


XCOM: New Blood

by OfficialWeedTesterguy



Category: XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Best Friends, Other, Psionics, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 175,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22544284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficialWeedTesterguy/pseuds/OfficialWeedTesterguy
Summary: Throughout its existence, XCOM has recruited many notable people in its fight against the Ethereal Collective. Dawn Conley is one such- an eighteen year old straight our of high school, with extremely high telepathic capabilities, and carries a unique skill only a few can master-biopathy. This is her story. Based off of Xabiar's XCOM: The Advent Directive fanfiction.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	1. Introduction

XCOM: New Blood

***

This story is based off on XCOM: Enemy Within, as well as Xabiar’s XCOM: The Advent Directive fanfiction.

***

As this is based in large part off of Xabiar’s work, there will be lots of spoilers for his story. Proceed with caution. Make sure to read Xabiar’s work first, as it’ll help you understand the story more easily.

***

I don’t own any characters directly named in either of the aforementioned works.

***

Reader discretion is advised.

***

Dramatis Personae (Not all characters will be listed here)

***

XCOM:

Dawn Conley: Telepathic Psion; Biopath sub-discipline

Lukas Von Theil | “Geist”: Telepath and Aegii Psion

Isoif Bronis: Psionic Overseer to the Internal Council; Templar, Aegii Psion

Runi’Carreria’Borelia: Runianarch Defector

The Commander of XCOM: Telekine Psion

ADVENT-affiliated:

Saudia Vyandar: Chancellor of ADVENT

Mary Stevens: ADVENT PRIEST trainee, Aegii Discipline

Finn Gerstner: Vicar General of the PRIEST Division Military Branch

Dr. Akilah Kettani: PRIEST Program Director

Ethereal Collective-affiliated:

The Imperator- Leader of the Ethereal Collective

The Battlemaster- Commander of the Ethereal Collective Military

Patricia Trask- Harbinger of the Imperator

Mortis’Ligna- Revenant of the Ethereal Collective

Sana’Ligna- Savant of the Ethereal Collective


	2. Youngblood

_ADVENT Priest Training Facility_

_4/5/2017- 12:40 P.M._

_Augusta, Maine_

"Okay Dawn, focus on the subject. Try to go even further into the subject's mind than last time, okay?"

"Yes, Doctor Chandra." I said, focusing on the subject in front of me. A Sectoid. I'd been testing myself on it for about a week now; before it, I'd never actually played around with another psionic-capable subject before.

This time around, instead of the standard introductory telepathic commands, I'd try something different.

I closed my eyes, focusing on his mind. Sectoid minds were...eerie. They were so compartmentalized; complex; mechanical. They didn't have any color or nuance, not like Human minds. They didn't feel emotions, it was like psychically looking into the mind of a computer. I didn't like it, even if the structure and conformity made it easier to navigate.

I ignored most of the sterile thoughts as my psionic power crept into its mind.

But I didn't want to go deeper. The mind was revolting on a primeval level.

_Cold. Dead._

A new desire floated to the surface of my thoughts.

_Kill it._

_End it._

That wasn't what I'd been assigned...but I was not caring so much about it anymore. Not after what I saw when delving into its mind for the first time a few days ago.

_It's killed people. I read its mind. Saw its memories. I saw what it did to that family._

_I heard their screams as it killed them. Watched them die as it butchered them like helpless animals._

_It can't hurt anyone now that I'm here. It deserves this._

I went deeper into the brain, moving past the sterility and organized labyrinth. The mental constructs soon turned almost fuzzy, and an indescribably overwhelming feeling began to fill me. It made me want to stop; go back to safety. It was a distinct feeling of _wrongness_.

_Stop._

_Concentrate._

_Go deeper._

_Deeper._

And now...there was something else. It was like there was another mind underneath; a simple telepathic touch confirmed that the weird mental place I had found was receptive to my power. It was weak; bonds held together by something. Many, many bonds; simple and complex alike. All receptive to some degree.

A mental hand reached out to touch.

It awaited my command with an almost held breath.

_A simple telepathic command is all I need._

So I thought. Focused.

If the bonds existed...

_Could they be undone?_

I could get past the surface level mental labyrinth, which was just...going deeper. It was difficult to explain, it was more like an intrinsic feeling. But I reached the place where I could perceive the bonds. I could only guess what they were. Cells? Molecules? Whatever it was, it still responded to my will.

_Let me see…_

_**Separate** _ _._

The bonds complied; resistant at first, but one of the first things I learned was how to bend the unwilling to my will. It was surprisingly easy, you just had to be determined. The bonds around me broke, the world seeming to become a flowing slurry, as I directed my power towards the few bonds that resisted my command.

A noise began breaking into my concentration, making me mentally gnash my teeth; it was loud and distracting. My concentration wavered, as the sound kept breaking through...it sounded almost like shouting and screaming.

" _Dawn!"_

Another waver as my psionics continued breaking the bonds. Was that Doctor Chandra?

" _Dawn!"_

I was almost thrown out then and there, as the surreal disembodiment went through me as my physical body was shaken by the shoulders. But I couldn't stop, and as the world seemed to split around me I held on in the world of slurry and broken bonds. I'd _discovered_ something here. I _knew_ it.

" _ **Dawn!"**_

Now it was too much, and with a dizzying rush, I returned to my body, my eyes blinking in the too-bright light.

I turned to look at him, angry that he'd interrupted me when I was doing what he wanted. My protest died as I beheld the normally composed man. He was clearly terrified, sweating furiously as if he'd just seen the ghost of his dead mother steal the bag of chips on the nearby desk. His terror and confusion rebounded emotionally, echoing his face. His mouth opened and closed as broken words came out in stutters.

_Why?_

A surge of alarm hit me.

_Had I hit him with a mental attack too?_

And then I looked at the prisoner.

Or rather, what was left of the alien.

Oh, for you see, the body was there. But the alien...something else entirely.

Its body looked okay, sprawled on the ground as it was...but his head was gone.

The body lay in a disgusting mess of grey-yellow sludge.

I opened my mouth, gasping. "What?"

I looked at Chandra for answers. He continued to shake and gape, not meeting my eyes, and I couldn't blame him.

_What the ever-living fuck did I just do? All I wanted to do was...was kill it...not fucking melt it like Arnie from T2!_

I began hyperventilating as the reality of what I had done crashed over me. I collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. My face turned red as a wave of exhaustion washed over me, as if I had exerted myself too much. The trainers had warned this might happen, and it hadn't happened to me yet. Until now, I guess.

I stared at the floor, muttering unintelligibly while Chandra hit the alarm button near the door.

I must have fallen down at some point after that, and let unconsciousness take me.

* * *

"What I want to know, _Doctor_ , is how she was able to do that!"

"I wish I knew, Magister-"

"You'd better-ah, she's waking up!"

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in this place's medical ward. The magister of the facility, Denson, stared down at me with a mixture of wariness and interest - something I'd never seen or felt from him before.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Dawn. Are you alright?"

"I...I think so. Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

I didn't quite feel it yet.

"Wonderful." His tone of voice indicated a sense of annoyed sarcasm. Which was odd coming from an adult. "Because _you_ , my young trainee, have some things to explain."

His tone made me uncomfortable, like some overly sadistic teachers. I flinched. "What do you mean?"

He was not buying my playing dumb. He pulled up a chair and appraised me intensely "Well, you're a smart girl Dawn. I'll see what you come up with."

I swallowed. "The Sectoid?"

"Exactly," he gave a single nod. "How did you do that?"

"W-what?" My stutter was stupid and embarrassing, but I was frankly terrified right now.

He pressed more directly. "How did you melt the Sectoid?"

I stammered, words starting and stopping and coming out as gibberish as I looked around in near-panic. The two guards at the door were shielded from showing their expressions, thanks to their helmets, but I could feel how nervous they were. Or maybe that was me. I couldn't concentrate well enough to figure it out.

"I-I-I don't-I mean I-I-"

"Hey." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, kid. You're gonna be okay. Just breathe, alright?"

" _ **Breathe?"**_ I shouted incredulously. "I just turned a Sectoid's _head into regurgitated Play-Dough_ and you want me to just fucking _breathe?_ I will-"

My body suddenly turned cold, starting at my left arm which I belatedly realized had an IV tube stuck in it. I turned my head to blankly stared at Denson before passing out.

Again.

* * *

The first nightmare came shortly after.

When I was first awakened, it took a lot of effort to get used to hearing the voices of everyone around you. It made it so goddamn hard to sleep. I took _way_ too many sleeping pills those first few weeks. Everyone thought it was so cool that you could read minds, but I'd figured out the coolness wore off once you realized what came with it. You didn't usually want to know the janitor's more...personal thoughts, or your friend's mind when their crush passed by.

But this was different.

Much, much different.

The same image played again and again in my head, in different scenarios.

I'd see my family; my twin sister, mom, and dad all going out for ice cream. They'd turn to look at me with happy smiles, and then slowly melt like the tasty treat in their hands onto the pavement in a red and pale slurry.

My friends, walking home with me from school, chatting and laughing about the day, bitching about homework, teacher, crushes, what have you. They would look at me with that same fuckin' trademark smile, and then turn into human Jell-O on the pavement.

My post-awakening friends, gathered in the training room, practicing on targets in preparation for the war we'd only seen in newspapers and TV. Something that only a few years ago would've made for another Hollywood popcorn flick to laugh at and poke fun at its CGI. They would look at me, stare into my eyes with that fucking smile...and just melt away.

I woke up that night, my mouth open, yet I could not scream. My roommate would open the door in a rush, asking me if I was okay. I would be sent to the nurse, given more meds, and sent back.

The next days were a similar nightmarish haze.

The therapist I was told to speak to didn't do shit. I'd refused to show her the memory of me 'going Frosty', as some people called it behind my back. She'd finally requested to see the video of the incident, and after that, I never saw her again. Probably asked to be transferred. I don't blame her at all. I hadn't responded to my parents' texts or phone calls for about two weeks.

Nearly a week later, when I'd calmed down a bit and could eat properly (as long as it was solid food. Soups, creams, and things that could melt made me ill on sight), they asked me to do it again, which I managed, begrudgingly. I felt...well, horrible. But when I did it again (to a rat this time, thank god), I felt a little bit better. It was much easier the second time.

It worked just like last time.

_Relax._

_Release._

_Separate._

It wasn't too different this time around. Both minds and the bonds were simple enough, weak to suggestion. There were different levels of concentration, of course, but the end result would be the same. Semi-liquification of the target. This time I'd literally melted the skin off of the rat.

More test subjects were brought before me, and it almost became...routine over the days that followed. They were interested if I could choose what I could melt. So I tried experimenting at their encouragement. It didn't go completely right. I'd try and pick mostly pick vital organs, like the heart, brain, or lungs, but that was easier said than done.

I knew I was getting better, but I was still mostly turning the heads and brains to mush. Sometimes the skin sloughed off. Once I'd gotten the heart, but couldn't for the life of me tell what I'd done differently. Either way, maybe it didn't matter. Pretty much anything I did was fatal. The only thing I was reliably doing better on was getting faster. The first time I was told had been nearly twenty minutes. A few weeks and I was down to thirteen.

Ever since 'The Incident', I'd been interviewed by quite a few psions and scientists, all trying to find out what I'd actually _done._ Although it was pretty clear _what_ I'd done, what they really wanted to know was _how._ I gave them the same answers every time, yet they still weren't satisfied with something. Test after test after test, question after question...it seemed like they didn't know what to do with me. I got the feeling they knew more than they were telling me, but constantly played dumb, not knowing or forgetting that I could sense if they were lying or not.

Not going to lie; I was scared.

Were they going to send me off to another lab somewhere? Increase the strength of my Restraints?

No, no, because that wouldn't be crazy enough.

As it later turned out, what they had in mind for me was something much more...unique.

* * *

_ADVENT Priest Training Facility_

_5/7/2017- 10:40 A.M._

_Augusta, Maine_

Nearly a month after the 'Incident,' I was called into the Magister's office again. I'd expected it to be another scientist with their questions, but no. A man in his mid-thirties sat in a guest chair.

Wearing an XCOM uniform.

_What the fuck?_

He looked at the tablet in her hands. "Dawn Conley?"

"Um, yeah. That's me."

He stood up, offering a hand. He spoke with a thick, though understandable Russian accent.

"Isoif Bronis, XCOM. Follow me."

"XCOM?"

"Yes."

I snorted. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"I can assure you it isn't. Into the conference room, please."

As I followed him into the conference room (a place I'd grown very familiar with), I noticed that there were quite a few guards here. More than usual, actually. Actual _Priests_ mixed in with them - trained telepaths who were actively shielding the emotions and minds of everyone in the room. I walked into the room and took a seat. The place was packed. The Magister, Dr. Chandra, the XCOM guy, and...oh fuck.

The motherfucking _Vicar General_ was here.

"Sit down please, Ms. Conley." Vicar General Finn Gerstner said in a collected voice. I sat down after getting over my shock, which may have taken more time than I thought. Gerstner shuffled some papers.

"So," he began. "According to these files, you have managed to demonstrate biopathy on established subjects. Is that correct?"

"Bio...sorry, what now?"

"Ah, my apologies. You have, _ahem_ , melted various parts of subjects, such as their heads, skin, and internal organs. Correct?"

"I...I guess so, Vicar General." I stuttered, quite nervous.

He took a deep breath. "I'm going to put it plain and simple. What you just did is rare among psions regardless of species. _Extremely_ rare to the point where you are the first Human who has done so. This ability has only been observed in Ethereals - until now. What you did is called biopathy. It is, in its simplest form, the manipulation of cells through telepathic commands, allowing the psion immense control over the body. In this case, liquifying the subject. We had theorized, though didn't know for sure if Humans were even capable of Biopathy - a question which you have definitively answered."

I blushed at the praise from the guy who was...well, a few ranks way above me. "I'm flattered, sir, but why is there someone from XCOM here?"

"XCOM wants to recruit you."

"What?" I immediately exclaimed in raw disbelief. "Hold on, hold on. They want me - an _18-year-old_ who's never even held a fucking gun or shot someone _ever_ \- to join an elite alien-fighting organization. Sir, with all due respect, I thought XCOM only took the super-elite _adult_ soldiers. Who have experience actually killing things? Not teenagers who just got out of high school and can barely hold an A average. I've never _shot_ someone, much less gotten into a fight!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Dawn, since coming here you have terminated three test subjects during the course of your training. Since your incident, you have terminated a half-dozen more. You may not have held a gun, but at this point you have experience with death in a way most people do not."

I scowled, temporarily not sure how to respond. "But this is...different! It's not like...I mean…"

He sighed patiently. "Dawn, you _are_ , in a way, the best of the best here. No one else on our side has done anything like this. _Ever_."

I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

Okay, Dawn, think.

You're an adult. You can make your own decisions now. You joined the PRIESTs, even though mom and dad didn't like it.

But could I actually do this? It'd be a big step up from what I'd be doing, right now.

_Which is what? Training?_

"If it helps, you won't be participating in combat ops immediately. We have some of the best people in the world working with us. They can help you with your abilities." Iosif paused. "I know this seems like a lot for you, and this is an extremely important decision to make. You can think about this opportunity for as long as you would like."

"I...can I think?"

"You can," the Vicar General nodded, motioning to the guards and standing up himself "Give the kid some space, people."

The small crowd reluctantly exits the room, leaving me alone. Their thoughts were still shrouded. I thought about probing them a bit, but I didn't see the point. They want me to join - it's that simple. But...was I really mature enough to do this?

But what would my family think? Their kid going off to go play soldier with the real deal? With _XCOM_?

Would I get PTSD, at least worse than the nightmares I had now? Become a completely different person?

How would I fare on the battlefield? Would I become some sadistic monster who enjoyed killing?

And how long could I survive against enemies like Ethereals or that Patricia woman who'd destroyed that airbase _by herself?_ Or those... _things_ in China?

At the same time, there were some positive things.

I'd meet some new people, hell, maybe even make some friends. I could become _far_ better than I was now. Maybe I could even meet Aegis. That'd be something.

There had been rumors going around in the PRIEST division that XCOM had gone on a major recruiting spree. So maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be the only person in a situation like this.

And if I did alright? I'd _maybe_ , no - _definitely_ see some action. I can finally fulfill my dream of becoming a hero, rising to protect others, making something useful of my life.

I knew it would be hard.

I'd have to make a lot of changes. I would have to grow up. A _lot._ More than I had already.

I might walk out a completely different person.

That might be inevitable regardless.

If I even survived (assuming we won), I might not be able to recognize myself anymore.

But it would be worth it. I'd be saving my species from enslavement or worse, and kick some serious alien ass.

Fuck it. I raised a hand and gestured, indicating to the people outside that I'd made a decision.

"I want to go." The Vicar General looked genuinely surprised. Did he think I would say no? Well, maybe not surprised. Almost slightly resigned, in fact.

"Guess you get another one," he said absentmindedly, which seemed directed at the XCOM representative.

"You called us, remember," was the answer with a tinge of amusement, as the man from XCOM looked at me.."Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I nodded.

The nod was reciprocated. "Then I have some forms to sign...considering you're legally an adult, it's not required but...do you want your family to be present while this happens?"

I looked down. They had already been quite worried when I'd opted to join the PRIEST Division instead of going to college. I mean, why the fuck would a degree matter if the aliens won? We'd all be dead.

"Yes." I say quietly. "They deserve to know." He nodded, and the Magistrate slide my phone across the table.

* * *

"Absolutely fucking not! You can't do this, Dawn! Joining the PRIESTs was one thing, but this? This is insane!"

I couldn't really blame my father for his anger and surprise at my decision. It had been a quick one, and a very serious one at that. Hell, I could die - though that was kind of something which came with being a Priest to begin with. I guess XCOM made it _real_ in a way the PRIEST Division didn't. They did a lot of training, after all. But XCOM was definitely _not_ interested in trainees.

"With all due respect, Mister Conley, XCOM will do its best to keep her and your family safe," came the placation from Iosif. "You'll be given accommodations along with-"

" _No,_ " Dad stated, gritting his teeth. "Dawn. Do not go with these people. _Please._ You're going to die! You could be captured by those monsters-"

"Dad. I know what could happen. But I've decided to make my choice. I want to do this. No one is forcing me."

Mom wasn't too happy either, though she wasn't as upfront about it as Dad. "Honey, think about this! This decision could _kill_ you! We could be put in danger. What if those aliens show up to take us or kill us because of you?"

"That's not going to happen, ma'am," Bronis said. "You and your family will be moved to a secure XCOM facility, where the other soldiers' families live."

" _Soldiers?"_ Dad barked. "She's barely a soldier herself! Look at her! She's an A student, not a murderer!"

"Dad, please-" My sister, Grace tried to butt in, but Dad was on another of his legendary rants.

"Dad," I said through gritted teeth. "You are embarrassing me. Let the man speak. Please."

"No! No! I will not let this _man_ allow my child to throw herself into a meat grinder! She is a teenager and she should not be in this kind of environment!"

"She's already signed the forms, sir," he explained patiently. "And in case you don't remember, she called you here, her family, to _support_ her in this decision. And here you are, acting less mature than your daughter. Do remember that if you escalate your aggression, there are several highly trained psions in this room ready to restrain you. Now, _sit down_ and let everyone talk like adults."

My dad flushed, looking around at the two Priests standing by the door. He sat down, head bowed. My sister, Grace, looked at me.

"Look, sis...I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not entirely happy you want to do this. I...I don't want to lose you, not now, not _ever_ really. But…" She sighed, trying not to cry even has her eyes watered. "If you want to do this, truly, I'm ok with that. Promise me you will be careful. _Please._ "

Her voice cracked at the last sentence. I got up, walking over to her. "Hey," I whispered. "It's ok," I said, hugging her. "We'll make it through this, you and me, ok?"

I looked over at mom, who was blankly staring at me. Her family has a history of military service...most of them have ended up dead because of it. Her mom still has memories of my uncle Frederic returning from the War on Terror. He was never the same after that.

She stared at us blankly, a tear dripping down her cheek as her two children hugged it out. Mom and Dad loved us a lot, and they made sure we knew it. It took a while for them to have us, and we were their world. If I died...it would destroy her.

I looked at my sister in the eyes, sensing the despair and pain that emanated from her. It was even more intense than when I left for the Priests after my awakening.

"I'll be safe. I'll make sure you Mom, and Dad are safe. Ok? I promise. I'm gonna do my best not to fuck up and die, ok? It's going to be alright, ok?"

"Okay."

I turned to Mom, who was staring at me. I sat down in front of her.

"Mom…"

"No. Just...no."

"Mom, I…" I reach out and try to take her hand, which she draws back to herself. "I...I...this is too much! I can't…" She sobbed, putting her head on the table.

I look over at Dad, who's just sitting there, fuming and his face in his hands.

"You guys _are not helping!_ " I exclaimed. "I'm making a very important decision, and I brought you to make me _feel better_ , not...not this!"

Dad looked up at me. "Having these jokers brainwash you into being a child soldier is not something I should make you 'feel better' about!"

My jaw drops. I...did he just fucking say that? My father, the man who _raised_ me, _loved_ me, just said _that_ to my face?

"Shut up! Just... _ **shut up!**_ " I slammed a fist on the table, my frustration and fury boiling over as my psionics lashed out, eyes aglow with psionic energy as the air shimmers around me. Everyone flinched as my overwhelming emotions washed over like a sharp pain.

The Priests stepped forward, psionic power of their own manifesting as a touch of two minds touched my own with a very clear order given - _Calm down. Now._ That broke through, and the emotions faded as my shoulders slumped. I began to sniffle, and hurriedly exiting the room.

I made it into the hallway, where I leaned against the wall, crying, almost sobbing. _Let it out._ I told myself silently. _Just...let it all out._ The door opened, and Iosif came through, followed by the Magister and Vicar General. Both left through another door, leaving Iosif and me alone.

"Are you alright-"

I turned to him, teeth gritted, eyes flaring with determination. "Show me where to sign. I've had enough of this fucking place."

* * *

_Skyranger, en route to XCOM HQ. Two days later._

_Wow._

It was actually happening.

I had joined XCOM.

Well, sort of.

After the paperwork had been done, I was given one last chance to go home and get some things. I'd be provided with all the necessities at the Praesidium, but I was allowed to grab some items of...sentimental value. Some family pictures, likes the family vacation we took to Australia a few years ago, me and Grace's 18th birthdays, and that one time I went to grandpa's house and I got bitten by a spider.

Fun times.

But I had a few other ones from school, too. A picture of me and the girls at our senior prom, our senior retreat to that smelly ass cabin in the middle of nowhere, and last but not least, our senior graduation. I felt so proud of myself, wearing that hat and gown as I left high school. Before the war, a lot of us had planned to go to college. But now..well, if we lost, college seemed kinda pointless. Last I heard, most of them had signed up in one way or another.

But I was the exception, I suppose. I had taken the time during the flight to read up on what I'd be doing, and more. The augmentations I was going to get sounded _super_ cool. Super-strength? Able to fall from buildings and not die? Inhuman reflexes? Being able to run for miles without breaking a sweat? Vision like a hawk? Immunity to disease? (Aw man, no sick days) I was slightly worried about having nanomachines flowing through my bloodstream, but the pros were _the shit_. And I mean _the shit._

"Hey."

I look up, to see a Korean man sitting across from me in the craft. He's a bit older than me, mostly likely 30-something. His English sounded pretty good.

"Yeah?"

"How old are you?" He asks. I don't blame him. I stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the adults here, all of who could probably kill me in a hundred different ways.

"I'm uh, 18."

His eyebrows raise up. "Eighteen?"

"Uh, yeah."

He shakes his head, bemused. "So we're having kids fight in this war now? Fuck me."

"I...I'm legally allowed to be here…"

"Kid, let me ask you this," the man leaned back. "Have you ever killed someone?"

My mind flashes back to the Sectoid-melting incident. I cringe.

"With my psionics. In training."

"I see." He shook his head. "Have you ever been on a battlefield? Killed anyone with a gun?"

"No."

"Look. Before I signed up for this, I was in Busan. I'm a sniper. You want to know how many aliens I killed?"

"How many?"

"463."

Now it was my turn for my eyes to widen. "Holy shit, that's a lot."

"It is," he said seriously. "And I had to work for it. It wasn't easy, and I almost died. A lot. And I certainly didn't see any kids there. This isn't a regular war, kid. I really hope the Commander knows what he's doing."

I was about to respond, but the pilot got on the intercom and told us we were almost there. The sniper looked at me again.

"What was your name again?"

"Dawn Conley."

He blinked. "Ji-Won Sobong. South Korea. Listen, kid, I don't want to scare you, but I really hope you know what you're getting into here. This isn't some war you see in the movies or on TV - including what ADVENT puts on the screens. Whatever they're showing the civilians is sanitized and dramatized to get people like you to join up. This is real shit, real shit that's killed a lot of people. People much older and experienced than you. I hope you really know what you're in for."

The Skyranger shuddered as it landed, and the back door other soldiers stood up and began to leave, as I scrambled to put my headphones and phone away. I shoved them into my backpack, stood up, and stepped out into my new life, leaving what sense of normalcy it had before.

I stepped out into what looked like a hangar. It was somewhat crowded at the moment, with technicians and workers running about. There was a small stream of soldiers standing in line, lining up to a large door that led out of the hangar. As I was taking a look around, I couldn't help but notice some faint burn marks and dents on the walls.

Wonder what did that. Huh.

I was supposed to meet someone called 'Anius Creed'. I guessed the line was leading to him, since the guy at the door matched the description. When it was my turn, I stepped up to the man in front of the door, who was surrounded by several support personnel. I presented to him my Priest ID, and smiled. He frowned, and cocked an eyebrow.

"How old are you again?"

"Eighteen." I say, resisting a sigh. He nods.

"Oh, you're the biopath."

"...yes, that's me."

He looks at me. "Does it say Templar on your shirt?" I look down. Ah, one of my favorites.

"Oh, sorry about that! It says _Black Templars_. It's from a game-"

"Kid, you sure as hell are _not_ joining the Templars. You're too young, and telepathy isn't exactly something the Templars are looking for."

"I said it's from a game-"

"Very well." He waved a hand, dismissing my explanation. "Take these fatigues and change. There's a bathroom down that hallway and to the right. After that, report to Tactical Research and Demonstration Room 9, where you and other newcomers will be officially briefed on XCOM. After that, you're to stay for a little bit. The Commander wants to speak to you personally."

I blushed. "The... _the_ Commander?"

"Yes. Since your recruitment is a...special case let's say, he wants to speak to you personally. Give you a, uh, _feel_ of the place and what you'll be dealing with. After that, you'll be heading to the psionic training arena to speak with your teacher. Goes by the name 'Geist'."

"Wait. Geist, as in _the_ Geist? The guy who chopped off the Battlemaster's arm?"

"You know him?"

"Well, he's...let's say _famous_ within the Priests. I've seen the clip of him in Florida at least ten times! I-"

"Okay, okay, he's awesome, I know. You'll meet him later." He says in a deadpan voice, waving his hand. "Next!"

"I-"

"I said _next_ , young lady." I sighed.

_O-okay._

I navigated my way through the various soldiers, many of whom gave me weird looks. I entered the bathroom (which is much nicer than my high schools', go figure), and quickly changed. I stuffed my clothes into my backpack and adjusted my fatigues. It's grey, and fits me pretty well. It's got my name: **D. Conley** on the upper right side of my chest, with the XCOM symbol underneath it, with the psi symbol right next to it.

_This is really happening, Dawn._

_It's real._

I adjusted my frazzled hair, and walk out of the bathroom.

_Okay, so he said Tactical Research and Demonstration Room. Where is that again?_

I walked out of the bathroom, looking for someone who might know where that is. I immediately spotted someone that looked quite different from the other adult soldiers: some old guy wearing XCOM fatigues. And by old, I mean _old._ He looked like he should be in an old folk's home. I wondered if he was a scientist or something. Taking a deep breath, I walked up behind him and clear my throat.

"Excuse me, sir. I'm looking for the Tactical Research and Demonstration Room, number 9. I'm supposed to talk with the Commander. Would you happen to know where he is?"

The man turns around, cocking his head.

"Did you say something?" His voice sounds like the 'nice old guy' voice, but something about it is...off.

"I'm looking for-"

"Tactical Research and Demonstration Room number 9?"

I blink. "I...how did you know?" He gave a thin smile, ignoring the question.

"Are you new?" He asks, taking a closer look at me with his intense eyes. "You seem a little young to be doing something like this."

I sigh. _This again?_ "Look sir, I-"

He snaps his fingers. I notice a small blue flash. It's like the purple glow of psionics, but blue. How does _that_ work?

"Ah, the biopath. And you're there for the briefing. New soldier orientation?"

"That's right."

"Well, young lady, I'm a little busy right now, but that crowd of soldiers over there is headed right for it," he pointed towards the respective crowd. "Follow them, and you should find it." He turned and walked away. _Young lady? Seriously?_ I shake my head, and rush towards the crowd.

I arrived in the orientation room. It's got several rows of chairs set up, which almost all are filled. I take a seat and shove my backpack under it. Sitting next to me is an Asian woman, who looks at me curiously. She's going to say something- probably another _how-old-are-you_ and _too-young-for-this_ spiel. However, the lights in the room slightly dim, and everyone grew quiet.

And that's when he walked out.

 _The_ motherfucking Commander, flanked by the same old guy I talked to earlier and...Aegis himself.

Wow. He was...much taller in person. Actually, his armor looks even cooler. I mean _shit_ , that Titan armor looked sick, but man, what I wouldn't give to wear that Ethereal armor. Wonder if they're working on _that_.

The Commander also had a smartphone on a mobile stand that seemed to have a mind of its own, moving around in circles until he gave it a look. It stopped. _The hell?_

"Welcome." He begins to speak, visually scanning the small crowd, stopping at me for a brief second, lifting an eyebrow slightly before continuing. Yeah, I stand out from the small army of trained killers surrounding me. I know.

"You all already know of the recent…" He paused for a moment, searching for the right word. "...betrayal of our species by Patricia Trask, our former Psionic Overseer and the first human psion to be awakened. I have no doubt you all have questions, and we have answers. What you learn, however, goes far beyond Patricia. There are truths about this war, ADVENT, and more which you will learn of, and not speak of beyond XCOM. You have been identified for your skills, but also because we determined that you are _reliable_ and _trustworthy_. We can train you, but we cannot train who you _are_. Consider yourselves among the few and elite in the world. Our expectations are high."

He sighed, moving forward. "Much has changed in our fight against the Collective. They have adapted, bringing out new weapons, troops, and tools in an effort to accelerate our fall. Several Ethereals have Harbingers, psionic Human traitors who have joined the Ethereals, acting as their puppets in the field. They have no doubt been manipulated - but make no mistake. These Humans joined of their own free will. They were not forced. They were not bribed. They willingly joined the Ethereals. Let that serve as a lesson that the enemy is not simply _alien_."

He lifted a palm - a prosthetic one, I noticed. "However, the Imperator has one more tool. A tool only XCOM and certain officials in ADVENT know about. One of nearly unimaginable power, an actor of a cycle of perpetual conflict across not only this galaxy, but many others."

Aegis stepped up, speaking for the first time. "They are called the Sovereign Ones, creatures billions of years old who are adept at scheming against one another for the sake of their own self-interests and goals. They have puppeted, created, and slaughtered countless races for their petty reasons. The Collective is… _allied_ with one, called Mosrimor. A Sovereign who specializes in nanomachine warfare and development."

The old guy finally spoke. "But fortunately, he is not the only one."

"I am Chronicler, chief Agent and Representative of T'Leth," he continued after a dramatic pause. "He has a number of overly melodramatic titles, but what is relevant is that for many years he has slept on your planet, at first healing from a previous conflict. Now he is seeking to...find a solution."

The Chronicler waved an idle hand. "But that will matter later. Right now, you have nothing to fear. He has been allied with XCOM and ADVENT for a little over a year, and is both the source of why the Imperator has not personally ended this war - as well as Patricia's betrayal. She believes your kind to be puppets of T'Leth. Rather, the Collective is the puppet of The Imperator, and his own ambitions."

"There is more." The Commander continued. "You've probably all seen by now the aftermath of Beijing, and the Dread Lord. While I can assure you that Isomnum is dead, no small part thanks to T'Leth, the real mastermind of that atrocity, the Bringer of Paradise, is quite alive. It is...an entity that lives in the Psionosphere, using proxies and puppets to do its bidding. Believe me when I say that the Imperator's use of the Bringer alone is enough reason for us to kill him, and notably is a source of internal conflict within the Collective. Something we are continuing to monitor."

 _So that's what was on those videos._ I thought. I'd briefly seen one of those Twitch streams from those sick fuckers in Beijing before ADVENT cut the cord on them. Definitely _not_ something I'd like to see again.

He shook his head. "I understand that may have been a lot to unload on you, and there is more which will come later. But rest assured, we have many resources at your disposal to help you learn more about these threats. As of now we are developing numerous weapons and technologies that equal and surpass what the Collective currently has. The odds against us may seem stacked, but there is more to this war than meets the eye. The Collective, though having the appearance of a unified pantheon, is slowly cracking apart by the seams. XCOM and ADVENT are working with several Andromedon Unions and the Vitakarian Nulorian to destroy the Collective from the inside out. I trust that all of you understand the sensitivity of this information."

 _What?_ I'd seen Andromedons and Vitakara of almost all species on the combat vids, but XCOM working with _rogue elements_ of them...shit. That could be a major game changer. I'd seen Andromedons fight...and having someone like them on your side would be pretty damn sweet. Not sure what a Nulorian was, though. Probably more secrets.

"Speaking of aliens… Aegis?" He gestured to the towering Ethereal, who'd been oddly quiet up until now. And on the subject of friendly Ethereals...where was Caelior?

"As you know by now, I have been working with XCOM since the annexation of Australia. I did not agree with how your species was being handled by the Collective, so I left."

I raised my hand. He turned his helm towards me, slightly leaning to stare at me. "Yes?"

"I don't mean to interrupt your speech...but um, where's Caelior?"

He turns to look at the Commander for a few seconds. The Commander nodded at the Ethereal, who turns back to me.

"During Patrica's attack here, she unfortunately captured Caelior." Numerous gasps and swearing rang through the crowd. The news shocked me. I mean...I'd seen her attack Ramstein and Vietnam, but taking on an _Ethereal_ single handedly and _winning?_ Holy fuck.

That simply wasn't human.

I was about to open my mouth and apologize when he began speaking again. "Miss Conley, you have nothing to apologize for."

_How did he...ah, telepathy. Right._

He continued. "However, XCOM Intelligence has located him, and he will be retrieved soon."

Okay, maybe that wasn't so bad to ask that.

"You should also be aware that we have numerous aliens working with us. For example…" He gestured to the door behind him. A hulking Andromedon in...its?...suit walked out (do those things even have genders?), and a motherfucking _Oyariah_ , in armor, with two huge battle hammers across his back.

Not going to lie, he looked pretty badass.

"This is V'Thrask, representative of Union Viarior. He has been assisting us with AI development, as well as several other projects."

"Greetings, Humans." The massive, hulking suit took a miniature bow, which was closer to an awkward tilt, before stepping back into the line.

"And here is Rava'Xarian'Hegemon, formerly of the Guard of the Ravager of the Hegemony."

_Jeez, titles much? What is with aliens and titles?_

"Greetings, soldiers." The Oyariah said. His voice, thought deep and powerful, sounded almost jovial. Almost as if he was _happy_. "It is a pleasure to meet you all." His head slightly cocked when he saw, eyeing me with...suspicion? He shook his head and stepped back into line.

"As you can see…" The Commander pointed out, "We have quite a few aliens that work here, be they soldiers or scientists. May of them, like V'Thrask and Xarian here, are quite friendly and open to interaction. Do not harass or attempt to solicit them for more…"

" _What he's saying is to not have sex with the aliens. Though knowing your species, the thought of doing so has probably crossed your minds at one point and you will doubtless ignore such sage and common sense advice."_

_Who was that?_

"Yes...thank you for your input, JULIAN." The Commander said dryly. " Ahem. Everyone, that was JULIAN, XCOM's resident AI and the last creation of Dr. Raymond Shen."

" _Welcome, soldiers! As you prepare for the assimilation, I endeavor to protect you from online behavior which far too many of your species succumb to. I remain amazed at the number of your species will succumb to obvious scams - something that the Zararch and a certain Ethereal troll continues to exploit. However, in order to provide proper security, I have pushed an update to all of your electronic devices. Please install as soon as possible."_

My phone buzzed, as did the rest of the group. The text was entitled: _JULIAN Update_. It was a link to...something. It seemed kind of familiar, but..I was hesitant to click on it for some reason. Unfortunately, the burly guy in the row behind me hit the link first, causing a very resoundent _Never Gonna Give You Up_ to start playing. Loudly. I snickered at the sound of the man trying to turn his phone off, as the ever-present music continued to play, much to the AI's pleasure.

" _Ah, this will never get old."_

"Julian...now is not a good time…"

" _Ah yes, Commander. How could I forget our oh so special soldiers. Riiiight."_ The voice reeked of sarcasm, and the music stopped. The Commander just rubbed his forehead, and coughed.

"We will have another briefing shortly addressing some aspects we didn't get to today. But I believe you have enough to think about. Dismissed!"

The whole room stands up, as I do, and salutes. "Yes, Commander!" As the soldiers begin to file out, the Commander walk up to me, as the Chronicler walks out, followed by Aegis and the other aliens, and the phone...AI...thing.

What an interesting introduction.

"Miss Conley?"

"Yessir?"

"A word."

I stand up as straight as I can as he looks me over. I'm still taking in what he just said, about Avatars and T'Leth and the Bringer. It was...a lot.

He appraised me for a few seconds. "Let me begin by saying that you made a very mature and brave decision to do this. I understand it was hard for you, but know that here, you'll be given the best possible training. Your family will be kept safe, and taken care of. Your age...well, you won't be deployed instantly like many of the others in the room. You'll be given training with everything - our armor, our weapons, and most importantly, your Biopathy. What you can do...it's very rare, and very powerful."

He paused. "There are not many who are familiar with the discipline you have accidentally stumbled upon, but there is one individual who has been involved in research relating to Biopathy. Lukas Von Theil will be your teacher, though you likely know him as Geist."

He watches my eyes as they widen with excitement, then continued.

"I can't say we have many people your age here. We have a sixteen year old who works in XCOM engineering, but from here on out, it's all adults who've served longer than you and have much more experience than you. However, they are in XCOM for a reason, and I see no reason why they won't accept you. If you have issues with something or someone, do not hesitate to report it to the Central Officer. Isoif, too. He's the guy that you met back in Augusta. You'll know him. He was there when you were recruited."

My real question is about the teenager in XCOM Engineering (don't have the brains for that kinda thing anyway), but I don't interrupt him. First impressions, y'know.

"But I do have expectations for you," the Commander continued. "As I would any other soldier. You've proven yourself to be mature. Make sure to act like it. This is a very serious situation, and I don't want any antics or drama mixed in here. There is _some_ fun to be had here...just not with weapons or psionics. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

He smiles, though it was a firm one. "Good. Your bunk has already been selected, and you'll receive more information later. Right now, head to the Psionic Training Arena to meet Geist. Otherwise...dismissed, Miss Conley."

"Thank you sir, it's an honor. It really is."

He nods. "You're dismissed. And remember...if you need any help, don't hesitate."

As he turns around and leaves, I process what just happened. In the barracks, we'd all exchanged rumors about Patricia. Maybe she'd been mind controlled, maybe it was just an alien is disguise, or it wasn't even her, and it could've been a clone.

But no...it was her. _Really_ her. Fuck. And she really went here...and killed all of those people.

 _How the hell do you kill someone or something that powerful? XCOM's gotta have something to kill the Queen Bitch of the Imperator._ I chuckled at the nickname. A bunkmate, Mary from Houston had come up with the name after the announcement in New York. It had been our little inside joke. Who knows, maybe some of the soldiers here would like it.

_And that T'Leth thing? The Chronicler said it'd been sleeping on Earth for a long time...but where? The ocean? Somewhere deep underground? It's...almost like something out of a video game. Then again, 18 year old me joining such a prestigious organization is like something out of a video game._

I sigh, fixing my hair. Probably about time to head down to the Psionic Arena, or whatever it was called.

Well, time to learn then. Clock's ticking.

_Xabiar's Note: Hello again everyone, I'm happy to share another story from a contributor. He actually got the idea not that long ago, and resonated with the brief time I spent on a scene with Dawn Conley, a character I'd intended to obviously be unique, though not a central figure of the war. The opportunity to explore who she was and how a woman like her would adapt to the war and her unique abilities was one I definitely wanted to help develop, and I was impressed with how this chapter turned out, and look forward to helping him expand and develop her as the story develops._


	3. Out of the Cradle...

_Psionic Training Range_

_5/9/2017- 11:19 AM_

I made my way to the Psionic Training Range to look for Geist, since he was supposed to be there. At least that was what the message had told me. I was so _excited_! I was going to meet, and be taught by _the_ Geist! We'd seen fuzzy and shaking clips of what he'd done while training, and he was a _legend!_ I mean, fighting the _motherfucking Battlemaster_ and chopping his arm off?

So. Fucking. Cool.

I looked around the area, looking for anyone who might know Geist. It was _busy_. There were several of those Templar guys dueling with telekinesis, a pair of Aegii trapping dummies in purple-shielded boxes. I noticed a particular Templar with a mace fighting a chick with a shotgun. She had an oddly painted yellow smiley face on the helmet.

_Weird._

"Ma'am, can I help you?"

I turned around, nervous. A Japanese guy was standing right next to me, looking concerned. Or maybe just puzzled.

"Oh! Uh...maybe?" _Who was this guy again?_

"Right." He said, raising an eyebrow. "What is your name and why are you here? This is for psions, if you weren't aware."

"Oh, I know." I chuckled. I lifted a hand and closed my eyes, doing a brief yet harmless telepathic check. He was definitely more curious than concerned, though his mind was pretty sharp. But definitely not a natural telepath; even _I_ could tell that much. "Sorry, there was someone here to meet me. Is that you?"

I don't even know why I asked that, since obviously I was going to meet Geist, and he _definitely_ wasn't Geist. But maybe someone else was going to escort me? I mean, it could happen. Didn't hurt to ask.

"Afraid you're not the person I'm waiting for." He said, cocking his head, clearly appraising me. "Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

 _Again? Okay._ "Eighteen!"

He blinked several times, probably thinking _what the fuck?_ If I were in his position, I wouldn't blame him.

"And they let you join?"

"I guess so," I shrugged. Everyone expected me to know what they were thinking, and I knew _that_ was an impossible task. "Oh, my name's Dawn. Dawn Conley." I offered him a hand, which he took.

"Kunio Azuma," he said. "Fellow psion and relative newcomer to XCOM. So is it what you thought it would be?"

"Well, yes? It's...overwhelming, honestly, but it's awesome! I'm not really sure what I expected, honestly. But everything here is _fascinating_! I don't even like guns, but there's some pretty awesome stuff here. Oh! And I get to wear the armor! I'd always wondered what that would feel like."

"It's pretty empowering," he agreed. "So how did you get into XCOM? They come to you?"

 _Oh boy. How do I say this without sounding like a teen anime protagonist?_ "Well, that's a story. See, I finished up high school when the invasion started. I wanted to do something to help, and going to college seemed...I don't know...pointless? So I went to get tested for psionics. Turns out I had, as they say, 'high potential'." I added the air quotes to emphasize the term.

"High Trask Level?" He nodded before asking: "Magus? Leviathan?"

"That one!" I exclaimed. "Cool title. Well, both of them were. But yeah, Leviathan telepath. I got a lot of training, so I can manage the voices." I grimaced. Mind-reading wasn't all it's cracked up to be. Hearing everyone's inner voice was...overwhelming at best. "Not a fun first few months, I'll tell you. I started experimenting on my own and...well," I looked around, not sure how much XCOM wanted to publicize this yet. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise." He said, sounding sincere enough. Look at that. I'm already making friends.

"I...accidentally liquified a Sectoid," I said sheepishly. Although everyone around me had lauded me for such an 'achievement', parts of me were still creeped out. He cocked his head, not seeming to get it right away.

"Liquified as in…?"

"As in melted, and I think I did it," I said, glancing down. "Telepaths need to go _deep_. It's how you penetrate minds. So I went in deep as I could and got to a point I hadn't been before. So I told the barriers to separate. The next thing I know the scientists are pulling me away and I see a Sectoid with a half-melted head. Gave me nightmares for a few weeks." I still remembered Chandra's screams as he pulled me away from the body. And the smell...fuck.

"And ADVENT didn't know how to handle you, so they shipped you here," he instinctively finished. "You're a special one. I don't think I've heard of _anyone_ who can do that outside of Ethereals."

That made me pause. I had heard of that Ethereal chick who could heal using something like that. I'd done a little bit of reading on the way. What was her name again? Sana Ligma or something like that? I scratched my head. Fuck, what a day it'd been.

"Wait," I realized. "You came from ADVENT, too?"

"I did," he nodded. "My story isn't quite as dramatic as yours, though. I just teleported myself halfway across the world."

 _What? Okay, I_ _ **definitely**_ _need to hear more about this._ "You can _teleport?_ That's so cool!"

"I'm _learning_ ," he stressed. "But I have a good teacher. I'm sure you'll have a good one as well."

"Miss Conley." A new voice sounded, and someone I assumed to be Fiona and who _had_ to be Geist walked up to us. The German man looked quite stoic. "Apologies for keeping you waiting." Her British accent sounded nice. Her sword and armor didn't look half bad, either.

"No issue, Miss Dorren," I said, instinctively straightening. Best to make a good impression on my new teacher. "I was just talking to Mr. Azuma here."

"She looked lost," Kunio added. "I came over to see if she needed some direction."

"Thank you Kunio, but we were just running behind," Fiona said, smiling. "Dawn, this is Geist. He's been researching and testing a skill you seem to have figured out on your own. You'll be training with him."

_Yesssss! Let's go!_

"I read your incident on the Sectoid," Geist said in a neutral tone. I can't believe it. The legend in person. "You do still have a lot to learn though, and we have limited time. Walk with me. There are some questions I have."

He immediately started walking at a pace I picked up and followed. He was fast though, and I actually had to jog a bit to keep up.

"So, Miss Conley. I'm not going to lie to you," he began, not looking down at me. "I've been studying biopathy for some time. I have managed to discern the basic theory and application. Small field tests have been performed. However, this is after several months of study and small-scale research. It took me significant effort, yet for you it came naturally. Which confirms several suspicions I have, and makes the path forward concise."

"Wait. So you want me to tell you how I did it?"

"Precisely."

I paused for a moment. "Well, it's a matter of perception, really."

He stopped walking and faced me directly, looked at me with a stare that I _really_ wanted to look away from, intense as it was. It didn't help that I could feel his mind on the edge of my own, though he was probably just observing my emotions. A bit of a privacy invasion, honestly.

"Perception, Miss Conley? Elaborate."

I blushed at the intensity. "I'm only trying to say that the bonds, the ones you can find in the deep layer. You know, the one beneath the basic mind structure. Or framework. However you want to say it. Reach those, and you can make them...separate."

"Curious," Geist said. "You call them bonds. Is that how you perceive them?"

"Well...yes?"

"Your background," he continued. "What is it?"

"Uh…" I hesitated. "You mean like education? Job?"

"Education."

Boy, was this going to sound bad. "Uh...high school."

Surprisingly though, he just nodded. "Did you happen to have an affinity for any subject? Any hobbies that are tied into that? Mathematics? Chemistry?"

"I was pretty good at English and history. Science isn't my strong suit."

"Noted. It ultimately isn't important," he said. "How you reach the conclusion is to help me understand your mindset and perception. Nonetheless, you figured it out as I did. Good. However, that alone is nothing new, do not expect significant enthusiasm. I trust you are not one to rely on praise for accomplishing minor tasks?"

"I mean…?"

"Unimportant. Your answer wouldn't change anything regardless."

He led me to a table and we sat down opposite each other, the intense man staring opposite me. "Before we go further, I would like to know something."

"What, Mr. Von-"

" _Geist."_

"Yes, Geist?"

"What do you expect me to teach you?"

"Um...how to use my abilities properly. And how to be a good soldier, and psion."

He nodded. "I ask for a specific reason, and in fact I have asked it of all my students at least once. I was a teacher before this. Chemistry. I enjoyed it. It was...rewarding to teach people like you. To watch them learn, to discover. To go beyond the ordinary and seek to make a tangible impact beyond a letter grade."

He paused briefly. "I dislike traditional teaching formats, and most teachers by extension. Administrators are an entirely different problem. Too stringent, formulaic, and creatively bankrupt. Too many children hate learning and school as a result of their incompetence and lack of understanding of the juvenile mind. I do not necessarily strive to make my classes _fun_ , but I do strive to ensure that you gain something useful out of them. That you develop something of an interest beyond the academic."

_Soo...is he trying to paint himself as one of those 'cool' teachers?_

He raised an eyebrow. "Miss Conley-"

"I'd like to be called Dawn-"

"Noted," he said in a dry voice, and promptly ignored me. "Miss Conley, I, in your terms, could very well be called a 'cool teacher'. However, that was not something I strived for and it would do you good to alter your preconceptions." He used his fingers to get his point across. "However, my methods are somewhat unorthodox. They do include times where I had a class where we constructed a realistic volcano in my classroom. Slightly dangerous, but highly informative. Almost was fired, but the students appreciated that I did not coddle them."

_Holy shit...that_ _**is** _ _cool._

"The developing mind prefers interaction," Geist continued. "Sitting in chairs of hours each day and listening to droning teachers does little for creative stimulation. I am a firm believer that students are capable of much more than society expects of them. My expectations and standards are high. I know what you expect of me, and now you know what I expect of you."

"I guess I do," I said. "And you want to teach me like that with me and my biopathy."

"Correct," he stated firmly. "Though the circumstances and place of instruction may be radically different, the basic concepts are the same. Though I will not be your lone teacher, I will be your main instructor. Understand that you are not here just for your biopathy. You are also a telepath, and you will be trained as one. I will be blunt, and say that I am certain I am not like instructors you have had before, especially as an American. I would expect you to find me off-putting."

I nodded.

"This is ultimately because I intend for you to make an impact larger than me in the future. It is the reason I became a teacher. Any teacher worth their degree wants their students to be greater than they could ever be. Too many have forgotten that, and fail to understand what that takes. It is unpleasant at times, it is painful, but you will emerge as someone who can complete any task and serve with distinction. You could not be coddled even if I wanted to. There may come a point where I am killed during your training."

He laced his fingers together, giving me a ' _pay attention, this is serious'_ look. I blinked. Well, at least he was being honest. That I could appreciate.

"You came here to become a biopath, but if that is all you strive for you will inevitably die," he said flatly. "You have a mind that is not fully developed. You have a mind which can adapt, but is not used to stress and danger. You are not a soldier. I may have the mindset, and perhaps the experience to call myself one now, but you are not. That is something you will become, and that is something you _must_ become. If you do not, you will die. Your youth does not afford you special privileges. You won't be deployed immediately, and when it happens, you will be deployed where you are needed. Though knowing the Commander, he will likely give you something 'easy' - but do not count on that being a certainty."

_What even_ _**counted** _ _as an 'easy' mission in XCOM, anyway? I certainly don't know what a hard one would be at that...and something told me I didn't want to know. Yet._

I nodded, not sure what to say in response. "Um...good, I guess."

"You'll want to find a bunk, if you haven't already," he said. "Head to the Barracks, Women's section. There should be a few spots open with the new recruits. There's some personal space there - private showers and bathrooms, but it isn't like the Priest bunks you're used to. You'll be living with women older and more experienced than you. I expect them to help your transition. They will likely be able to answer questions you have. They are a resource. Use them."

He handed me a tablet. "Be sure to have this on hand. It contains information on our enemies. We have extremely advanced means of replicating combat scenarios, thanks to T'Leth. It will be instrumental in your development."

"The Sovereign thingy?"

"It is Sovereign technology, yes. Use proper language, please," he said firmly. "We are not in high school, nor on the Internet. You are an adult, I expect you to act like one." He cleared his throat. "In short, T'Leth can project illusions through orbs that can simulate battle scenarios. Given your age, I suspect there are several films with similar concepts. We refer to it as the Dreamscape. Make of that what you will, but it will help prepare you for the battles ahead."

He looks at his wrist. "My time is almost up today. Report to Bronis when you leave, and he'll give you more information on settling in, and scheduling you for weapons training, augmentations, and psionic scheduling. I will be your psionic trainer, but that will not encompass everything you do here."

_Augmentations? Oh hell yeah, that sounds awesome._

"Thank you Lu-Geist," I said. "I'm honored to be here. And thank you for taking the time to help me."

"To you as well, Miss Conley." He shakes my hand. "I believe you are more prepared than you believe. We will see each other soon." He stood, and then briskly walked away.

Well, that was _interesting_. Weird German guy, teleporting Japanese guy, weird British Sovereign chick - who's next?

* * *

_Psionic Overseer's Office_

_5/9/2017- 11:31 PM_

"Dawn Conley? Isoif Bronis." He extended his hand as I approached. "I recruited you."

"Right!"

"Please, take a seat. We have a lot to discuss." I sat down, as he looked through a small stack of papers.

"Let's see...Dawn Conley, age eighteen...a good name, by the way...biopath sub-disciple, here we go."

I sat still not sure whether or not to respond to the comment about my name. I get that a lot.

"Well, Miss Conley," he finally said. "I have to say I never expected to be welcoming someone of your age here, but I suppose the war demands everyone we can muster. Now, have you chosen a bunk yet?"

"No. I had to talk with Geist. Gave me a brief-down of the place."

He nodded. "Sorry if he was a little off-putting. He can be...stringent sometimes. But I can assure you he's one of our best psions. He's got lots of combat experience, and even more teaching experience, so you should be fine."

I smiled. "Well, I'm glad to know I'm in good hands."

"Anything for our soldiers," he responded, before glancing back to the papers. "Now...for your training. You'll be receiving your augmentations tomorrow. You'll need them so you're physically equivalent for the training."

"Tomorrow?" I asked, trying not to sound alarmed. I knew I'd be getting those, just not so...soon. "Is it going to be safe? Have they ever been done on someone so young?"

"I don't blame you for being surprised," he nodded. "Normally, it'd be a few more days, but with the recent...escalation of the conflict, we're making some adjustments. And yes, you should be fine. Since you've stopped maturing biologically, there shouldn't be any negative effects."

"By escalation, you mean…"

He nodded. "Patricia. Yes."

"I'm sorry," I winced. "Bringing her up is kind of taboo around here, yeah?"

"Not taboo, but she's not a pleasant topic," he explained. "A lot of soldiers personally knew her to varying degrees, not to mention her reputation. Just understand that if she's brought up. I would avoid bringing her up with Creed unless it is official business."

"You mean the guy who gave me those fatigues? Why?"

He sighed, appraising her carefully. "The two of them were in a relationship," he revealed after a moment. "That is all I will say on the topic, and I wouldn't suggest seeking that conversation out. I understand you came from high school, but we do not perpetuate rumors and backtalk here. I trust you to respect privacy as best you can."

 _Oh...oh shit._ My eyes widened in surprise even as I nodded. I knew some of the soldiers here knew her, but not like _that._ I'd seen some bad breakups at my school. But that... _oof._

"We'll move onto your augmentations," he said without missing another beat.

_Yeah, go ahead and change the subject. I'd rather not dwell on that fact._

"Alright."

He glanced at the sheet he held. "The procedure should last about seven total days."

"Does it...hurt?"

He shakes his head. "No, no. You get put to sleep in a tank full of MELD while the nanites do the work."

_So I go to sleep in a tank full of nanite Jell-O. Neat._

"After that…" He leafed through a few pages. "You'll have to go under again for Psi Armor implants."

"Sorry sir, but Psi what now?"

"We've recently made a number of breakthroughs when it comes to psionic enhanced technology," he explained. "Which for you, simply means we have armor and weapons which are specifically designed for psions, and naturally harness their power in a way Titan armor cannot. However, this requires physical augmentations to fully sync with the armor and weapons."

"Um...how long will _that_ operation take?"

"It'll add another two days. So you'll be under nine days."

_Shit. That's a while._

I thought for a moment. "Can you send a notification to my family letting them know?"

"I've let them know you'll be away for a short time, Dawn," he said. "They won't have to worry. We have the best doctors in the world here. You'll be fine."

"Sounds good. Wait...what is this made from?"

"The technology was derived from Sectoid and Sovereign technology," he answered. "I suspect you are familiar with some of it. Their computers and weapons used by the Vanguards are the obvious examples."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"We're XCOM, Dawn. Almost everything we have is derived from alien technology. Including what you're wearing now." He noticed my shocked expression and gave a small smile. "Sorry, I tried to make a joke there."

"No, no, it's not that, Overseer," I shook my head. "It's just...you seem so _okay_ with having that powerful being and his minions just hang around here."

"You have nothing to fear from T'Leth and his Agents, Dawn," he placated. "You have my word, and the Commander's. We've been...cooperating since Patricia was taken. He was the reason Isomnum couldn't flee Beijing."

"I see," I remembered something then. "Speaking of Beijing...the guy who beat him to death...he's still around, right?"

"He is. Returning to the subject, your augs will take about a day to finalize, with another eight hour rest period. After that, you'll get to training. You'll be working with Geist on your psionics, and Aegis has expressed some interest in helping you with general telepathic training."

" _Aegis?_ He wants to... _help_... _me_?" I pointed to myself, confused.

"Not _just_ you," Iosif clarified. "There will be others who have recently arrived. But you specifically are a special case. Biopathy is very rare, and considering your age, he'll make some time specifically with you. Moving on, you'll also get access to the Dreamscape and the firing range. I've got your record on file from ADVENT." His tone almost turned amused. "Your targeting was...acceptable, but I doubt you'll be using only gauss weapons here. Psions have shifted to Psionic rifles or other psionically-powered weapons. Though if you'll be more comfortable with gauss rifles, we can accommodate that."

"Dreamscape?" I remembered. "Geist briefly mentioned it, but all he said was that it was some kind of simulation scenario by T'Leth."

"Ah," he nodded. "It's a telepathic simulation by using Sovereign Orbs - the way he keeps in contact around here so to speak. Through them you'll be placed in an _extremely_ realistic simulation. You'll be able to fight practically every kind of enemy in there, and use a large variety of weapons and armor."

"Can you die in it?"

"In a sense. It's somewhat painful, but you respawn, so no, you can't literally die."

A worried frown grew on my face. There were probably a bunch of stupid ways to kill myself in the simulation. Not that I _wanted to_ but the idea of having infinite lives _was_ interesting.

He must've noticed the look on my face. "Yes, people have done it. I can assure you that dying in it isn't significantly traumatizing or anything, but it's not recommended to experiment, otherwise T'Leth will make it more painful. This is not a game, and we don't want you acting recklessly in real life and die because you treated the Dreamscape like a joke. Understand?"

"I understand, Overseer."

"Good," he said with a nod. "You'll also be doing some live-fire exercises in the firing range once you've gotten enough experience in the Dreamscape. Expect to work alongside other soldiers there as well. When you're at the firing range, ask for Carreria. She's volunteered to teach you the ins and outs of our arsenal."

Nice name. I wondered where she was from.

"Sir...if I may ask…"

"Go ahead. There are no stupid questions here."

"Well, with all due respect, won't a lot of soldiers be put off by someone as young as me serving with them? You usually don't see people like me."

He paused, letting the silence linger several seconds before answering. "The Commander and Internal Council have considered that. You and I both know we won't throw you on the battlefield immediately - we don't do that to our people. Your file checks all the boxes, and you've passed all the tests and checks. You are here for a reason, and others will respect that."

He appraised me with some sympathy. "Listen, Dawn. I understand you're worried. But you shouldn't be. You and your family are safe here, and we'll give you all the tools you will need to thrive. The soldiers around you have been through and seen a lot. But you are one of _us_ now. It will take you some time to adjust, but that is expected, and we are here to help."

I manage a smile. "Okay."

"Good. I'm uploading more files to your profile," he clicked several times on his computer. "I recommend you look through our database. The more informed you are, the better equipped you'll be to survive. Now, I'll need you to report to the Barracks, find yourself a bunk to store your things. After that, you don't really have anything else on your to-do list until tomorrow. You'll receive more information on your surgeries shortly."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, right. We have an internal chatroom set up for socialization, discussion, and so on. The link should be in the files I sent you."

"An internal one? Not a commercial one?"

"Yes. JULIAN has made some substantial improvements to it," Iosif grimaced. "Although he did give himself an administrator role, so I would advise you to be careful on what you click."

"The AI?"

"You've met him?"

"Once, at the briefing."

"Ah…" he snorted. "I'm somehow not surprised. He's really something."

"Thanks for your help, Br-Overseer." I shake his hand again.

"Good luck, Miss Conley."

I had a feeling I'd need more than plain luck to survive this.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_5/9/2017- 11:51 PM_

I entered a large room filled with various women, all in their twenties or thirties, who certainly looked older and more intimidating than me, hanging around and talking. I got quite a few looks as I walked in. I nervously smiled, trying to look confident.

I did not do a very good job of doing so.

"Kid, you lost or something?" An Asian woman leaning on a bunk asked, staring at me.

"Um...no. I just spoke to Geist and Overseer Bronis. I've been cleared-"

"You're a _psion?_ " Another woman asked. It sounded like she had a Russian accent.

"Um, yes. I'm a telepath. Ninety on the Trask scale."

A small chorus of gasps rang out as more people now stared at me. _Whoop-de-fucking-do. Look who's the center of attention. Good job, Dawn._

"A _ninety?_ Shit. I didn't know they awoke people that young."

"Well, they do," I said, trying not to sound overly defensive. "Now, at least. They're not gonna send me into battle right away, y'know. I'll get training and that kind of thing before they put me out there."

"Damn right they should." Someone said from the back.

"What exactly did you do to get here? Was it your Trask level, or something else?" The Russian woman asked.

"Um….I don't really feel comfortable saying that right now…" I started blushing.

"Fuck, you're scaring her. Give her some damn room, would you?" The Asian lady walked up to me, shooing a few of the soldiers away.

"My name's Lian Zhao, former PLA. The bunk above mine is empty. Would you like to have it?"

"Ummmm….."

_She's trying to be nice to you, Dawn. take it. You need to make more friends here._

_No! You just met this woman? Can you trust her?_

"Sure...sure!" I blurted out. "I'd like that!"

"Follow me, kid."

"My name's Dawn."

"Dawn?" She cocked her head. "That's a nice name. Can't say I've ever met someone named that."

"Well…" I said slowly. "Here I am!"

Lian chuckled. "So, what did you do before this? Must've done something."

"Um….Model UN and yearbook club?"

She didn't take her eyes off me, but her demeanor grew a bit more serious. "You really don't have any military experience, do you?" She didn't say it harshly, mind you. She sounded very sympathetic, which I guess was better than the alternative.

"I've shot a few gauss weapons. And killed a few test subjects with my psionics." I answered noncommittally. I wasn't ready to tell her about the biopathy thing. I stood out enough as is. I looked down shamefully.

"Hey. Look at me." I looked back up at her, batting some hair out of my eyes.

"You're going to be fine. Ok?"

"Okay." I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry, today has just been so fucking long and stressful. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, swearing...in Chinese? It sounded like Chinese anyway.

"I felt the same way when I got here," she said. "There's a lot to learn and take in." She paused, as if remembering something. "Have they told you about EXALT yet?"

"Eggsalt?"

"Apparently not," she shrugged. "And it's EXALT. Like 'exalted'. You'll learn soon enough. Here we are."

She showed me to a bunk. Definitely _not_ like the ones I slept in at summer camp. It's a bit bigger than my bed at home, and certainly more comfortable. There's a charging station, a pillow...spartan, but I'll take it. Also, top bunk. Score.

"Um...thanks, Lian. Your English is very good. I can't say that I know any Chinese…"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," she waved a hand idly. "They have translation tech here if you need it, it'll sort it out. Psionics can help with that, too."

"Thanks!" I threw the backpack up on the top bunk, and climbed up and laid down. I had nothing on my schedule for a few hours until dinner. I took off my boots, checking out my XCOM-emblazoned socks. _Damn, they really didn't just stop with the uniform, eh? Still can't wait for that armor._

"You need anything, just let me or someone else here know, ok? I'm off to the firing range." As I began to unpack my backpack for the locker next to mine, she stopped.

"Hey, what's that?"

She indicated the small box that I was holding.

"Oh...this. It's something from my grandfather. Gave it to me before he died."

"Mind sharing?" She asked, before pausing. "If you want to."

I opened it, pulling out a small glass case, which contained a medal and a patch.

"It was his. Gramps served in World War 2. OSS, actually." Her eyes widened in interest when she heard that.

"OSS? The CIA precursor?"

"It was. He helped train the French Resistance to fight the Nazis," I explained. "Killed quite a few himself. That's his patch on top. And _that's_ his Bronze Star medal. He was one tough son of a bitch."

"Wow. That is...very impressive. Does your family have a history of military service?"

"Nah. Well, I guess in my case, yes."

"Why did you bring it?"

I stared at it. "It's...well, a lot of reasons. He was a hell of a guy. Best kind of grandpa anyone could ask for. I guess, in a way, it's motivation. Gramps and I are fighting for the same thing, albeit in different ways. And well, he'd never say it but I think he liked me a little more than Grace or any of my cousins. I was his favorite."

Lian nodded. "And what are you fighting for, Dawn?"

"The triumph of good over evil, of course," I said. "He fought to liberate Europe from the Nazis, I'm here to liberate humanity, and the galaxy from the Collective."

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "War isn't like that, kid, no matter how much the victors revise it. The allies propped up Stalin, and the Americans didn't care about us when the Japanese came to China. Even this war isn't as stark as we'd like it."

I shrugged. "It's stark enough to me."

She nodded. "When it comes down to it, yes. At least in the sense that there is a clear desirable outcome. But this isn't a cartoon, or anime, or whatever storylines you're used to. Good and evil are relative. Don't build us up as pure and good, otherwise you'll just disappoint yourself."

"Maybe," I said tonelessly, entirely unconvinced. "Anyway, Mom gave this to me before I left. Said it'd give me 'inspiration'. I promised her I wouldn't break it or anything. It's also kind of a memento thing. Reminds me of home and all that."

"That's nice. Can't say I have many of those." Her face turned melancholy, with some sorrow etched onto it. "It was destroyed in Beijing. Burned to the ground. Never got a chance to bring anything here."

"Shit, you fought in that?"

"I did. Hopefully you won't have to experience something like that."

"I'm sorry, I-"

She waves me off. "No worries, kid. You want information on it, the Training Rooms and your tablet should have more information. Fair warning, it's not for the faint-hearted."

I nod. She definitely didn't want to continue the conversation.

"So…" She changed the subject. "A bit overwhelming for you, yeah?"

"It is. Pretty worried, not going to lie. Just want to do my part without fucking up royally or embarrassing myself. I mean, you fought and lived through Beijing. I..I don't even know if I'm capable of going through something like that and staying sane, much less living."

"Listen…" She got closer to me, looking me right in the eyes. "You may be the youngest one here, but that won't matter in the end. All of us here…" She gestured to the various other women, standing around and talking. "We've earned this, in one way or another. You're one of us now. And we'll help you."

"Okay," I nodded once. "Thank you."

She nodded. "Oh damn, I need to go to the firing range for practice. I should go. _Zhu ni hao yun_ , Dawn."

"Bye!" I give a small wave, which she returns. As she walks away, I take a look at the barracks. All these women, much older and experienced than me...I do stand out. I'm a fucking kid among these trained killers. I wondered how many of them were psions? As Lian left, I whipped out my tablet, and plugged in my headphones. Man, there were a _lot_ of documents on it.

My phone, lying next to me, buzzed.

_[Incoming video call from Mary.]_

I opened my computer, clicking some keys and clicking in my headphones. The app popped up, a picture of my former bunkmate filling the screen. She waved.

" _Dawn! How you doin'?"_

I chuckled. Her thick Texan accent still gets me. I waved back. Nice to finally see a familiar face after what happened today.

"Hey, Mary! Just got settled in and everything! Just got my own bunk, see?" I picked up the computer and angled it so she could see my little setup.

" _Man, that looks way better than our Priest bunks!"_ She said enviously. " _Man, am I jealous. So...um, how did it go? Without the classified stuff, of course!"_

"Well...um…" _How should I put this?_

 _Oh, nothing much. Just found out that we've been receiving help from a literal psionic god-thing who's billions of years old and probably has some weirdo agenda. Also, Patricia is_ _ **actually**_ _Patricia, not some clone like that rumor that we heard about. Oh, and did I forget to mention she had_ _a_ _ **boyfriend**_ _, too? Oh, and that Caelior got kidnapped, and that's why we haven't seen him lately, not that 'oh, he's training' PR statement XCOM put out? Also, something about 'exalt'. Not sure what that's about._

"Well...I got to meet Aegis. And the Commander. That was neat."

" _You got to meet_ _ **Aegis**_ _!?"_ Oookay, she was kind of freaking out. Which wasn't...surprising, considering Mary was...well, calling her an Aegis fangirl would be an understatement. I mean _yeah,_ he's cool and all, and some of his TV appearances were hilarious, but...well, I had found that she had taken her obsession a bit too far in a few places.

I never got the guts to tell her I found what was hidden under her bed. Damn near gave me as many nightmares as when I melted the Sectoid.

"Yeah, apparently he's shown interest in helping me with some telepathy stuff!" I said. "He's so huge in person, it's freaky."

" _What about Caelior? Did you see him?_ "

"No, he's ah...busy...right now with...training...stuff."

She looks at me with a raised eyebrow. " _Right. Let me guess, he's probably on some super-secret mission?"_

"Geist is going to be my teacher!" I blurted, admittedly a little loudly. I got some weird looks from my bunkmates and flushed slightly. _Sorry guys._

" _You're shitting me, right?"_

"Nope," I confirmed. "He's...kinda weird. He acts like someone shoved a 4x4 up his ass. He kind of has that 'tough love' sense to him, but he's pretty stoic."

" _Seriously?"_ She laughed. " _You've got one of humanity's best psions as your teacher, and that's the first thing you say about him?"_

I shrugged. "It's true, and I get the feeling he wouldn't argue. He used to be a chem teacher before this, so it's not like he's walking into this whole thing blind. Y'know."

" _Huh, convenient. So...when do you get to wear the armor? How about those augs? Is it true they turn you all pale and shit? Kinda creepy._ "

"Um...I mean, they're putting me under tomorrow for that stuff, so soon-ish I guess?" I guessed I'd be 'wearing' the armor in that Dreamscape simulation, but I wasn telling her that. I'd probably be getting the real thing soon enough.

" _Wow! I'm just...that's_ _ **so cool**_ _! The armor, aliens...hey, you get to use those plasma rifles, right?"_

"Yyyyeah...I haven't shot one yet though-"

" _Man! That's…_ " she shook her head. " _Dawn, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly jealous, but...you know what? I'm super proud of you, sister."_

I blushed slightly. We weren't _actually_ sisters, but we'd been through a lot together. Awakening (I'd rather not remember a lot of the thoughts I heard, really creepy), experimenting with our powers (I still chuckle at the time Mary accidentally bisected the Magister's coffee mug...good times - doesn't beat the time Rick accidentally brought down the ceiling lights with his telekinesis, though. That was _really_ something). We'd shot our first guns together, experimented with our powers together, talked about our respective upbringings, families, schools, crushes...we were close. Sisters-in-arms close.

"Yeah, _sister._ Hey, how are things in Maine?"

" _Well...a lot of people here have_ _been talking about you. Not openly of course, but there've been...rumors. Lots of them."_ No surprise there. I'd gained a reputation already by being a fucking _ninety_ , combined with the fact that Mary and I were the two youngest there...and then I melted the Sectoid.

_The biopathic circus freak, everyone! Watch in amazement as she stumbles through gaining her superpowers! Gasp in awe as she awkwardly tries to fit into a group of women that could probably kill her in fifty different ways with their bare hands alone! Revel in amusement as she tries to look confident...and ultimately fails!_

" _You there?"_ Fuck, I zoned out.

"Yeah. yeah. I'm here, I'm okay. It's...been a long day."

" _You want me to hang up?"_

"Yeah. Maybe we can talk later, ok?"

" _Ok. Bye. Good luck!"_

The call disconnected. _Good luck...you have no idea, Mary. Now, about those documents...let's see here, Ethereals...ooh, Mortis...Ligna. As in Sana Ligna? Interesting name. Let's start with you._

As Swedish heavy metal began to blast into my ears, I began to read.

_What's your special talent...oh...oh my._

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_5/9/2017- 5:47 PM_

A tap on my shoulder interrupted my reading trance. I took my headphones out, and looked up. It was the woman with a Russian accent from earlier.

"Dinner time."

"Dinner? Now?" She nodded. I turned off my tablet, put my boots back on, and hopped off the bunk. I followed the Russian woman, along with the small mob of soldiers, out of the barracks. I got a few stares as I tried to fit in with the crowd. I looked around for Lian, but I couldn't find her anywhere. Maybe she was just late or something. She hadn't gone on a mission or anything, right?

I hoped not.

We arrived at the Mess Hall, and...damn, it was big. About a hundred soldiers are currently eating there, as well as quite a few support personnel. I wondered if this place had any janitors. That job must be hard.

 _Custodians, please report to Science Room 14 for immediate nanite spill cleanup._ I snorted at my little joke as we all lined up and grabbed trays. I hoped the food here wasn't crap like in military movies.

Don't want Earth's mightiest defenders to go hungry, I would imagine.

I made it to the chefs, where I got more stares. _Jeez, I know already._ They put an admittedly tasty-looking lo mein on my plate, with a side of green beans and a chocolate chip cookie. At least it looked better than school food. Hopefully ADVENT's done something about that. I grabbed a water and looked for a seat. Looked like most of the tables had been taken already.

I saw someone wave at me. Oh, it's that Kunio dude from earlier. I walked over, and took a seat next to him.

"Hey. Dawn, right?"

"Yep. Kunio...Isuma?"

"Azuma."

"Ah, right."

"It's alright. So...how's your first day going?"

I sighed. "Okay, I guess. Just...been a lot to take in." I put my head in my hands. He patted me on the back.

"Hey's it's okay. I can imagine everyone's first day here was stressful."

"I guess. I'm just tired."

"Hey, I understand. Have you read up yet?"

"Some, yeah." I shoveled some noodles into my mouth. Damn, pretty good. "It's...really eye-opening. Quisilia in particular. I didn't know he was such an asshole. He did all of that shit...killed all those people...and here I was before coming here thinking he was just a joker. Definitely going to unsubscribe later. And the Avatars...Harbingers...whatever they call themselves. I just can't fathom why anyone would purposely join them. I mean, you saw the pictures of those dead kids, right? And the Mutons...I never thought I'd be saying this, but I feel bad for them. An entire race enslaved. Goddamnit…"

Kunio shook his head. "Some people, Dawn, are just very malleable. More than others. They allow their ideas and flaws to control them, thereby allowing o _thers_ to control them…"

"Like Patricia?"

He shrugged. "I don't know the exact details, but I assume something along those lines happened. But for all their power, it looks like they can be killed. They're still human. We've killed two already. Well, one technically. The Andromedons killed one."

"Uh...what?" I frowned. "Was it part of one of those allied Unions or something?"

"I'm not sure. Have you watched the Beijing footage yet?"

"Um...not really," I answered. "Just going to do the reading for now. But I did see a little bit of Patricia's...rampage. Fuck, she's powerful. How the hell do you stop something like that?"

He didn't seem as concerned for some reason. "I'm sure the Commander will come up with something eventually. One thing's for sure- after what she's done, she's living on borrowed time."

"Damn right she is." I'd wondered if I'd ever have to fight her, as a PRIEST or XCOM soldier. Now that she'd shown that she wasn't beyond hitting civilian targets, and that she could teleport almost _anywhere_ , the fear was real.

But maybe that was the point of her plan. I knew I'd be safe here.

I smiled softly. "Thanks, Kunio. I needed that. I should probably tell you now that I'll be knocked out for the next nine days."

"Modifications?"

"Yeah."

"You ready?"

I nodded. "Bronis said I'm good to go. I'm a little worried, I guess. You've got the augs, right? How does it feel? Does it hurt?"

"Well…" He shrugs "It's a little _cold_ , but they put you under pretty quick, so you don't feel anything." He continued chomping down on his food. "You _do_ feel a little prick when the tubes get in your skin-" He saw me visibly cringe. "Relax. It feels like a flu shot. Mostly."

"What are you, my dad?" We both laughed. Look at that- I made a friend. For now.

"Geist didn't scare you too badly, did he?"

"Well, not really. He's...odd, to say the least. Kinda creepy, too."

Kunio nodded. "You won't find too many who disagree. But he's very experienced and skilled."

"Yeah, I know," I shrugged. "He's just kind of off-putting for a person. But he used to be an _actual_ teacher before this, so I guess he's got that going for him."

"Yes, Fiona mentioned that to me," he nodded. "I wouldn't have guessed that."

"Yep. Chemistry. He almost got kicked out of his school for creating a volcano for his students."

Kunio rolled his eyes. "Of course he did."

"Is this spot open?"

I looked behind me, to see a small Korean woman set her tray next to us. She sat down, and appraised me.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize you." She said with a frown. "Are you new here?"

"Ah, yes! It's my first day!" I extended a hand. "Dawn Conley, psion."

She stared at my extended hand, and almost reluctantly shook it once. "And how old are you, exactly?"

"I'm eighteen."

The woman sighed. "So we're recruiting kids to fight for us now, huh?"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

Kunio leaned over, a bit of a warning in his voice. "This is Carmelita Alba, one of the longest-serving XCOM soldiers. She's been here for over three years, longer than any other soldier here."

"Three years?"

"That's right." She obviously heard me whisper. "Three long years."

I sensed there was a lot of pain in those three years, and even tangibly sensing her feelings was intense. "I'm sorry-"

"Kid, I don't need any sympathy right now," she responded gruffly. "Why exactly is someone your age here?"

I looked at Kunio with a confused look of _should I?_ He nodded. Okay then. I turned around.

"I'm a telepath, with a Trask level of 90."

"Ninety, huh? Almost as high as Geist." She muttered.

"I'm also a biopath." _Maybe that will get her attention_. When I said that, she immediately put her fork down and stared.

"A _biopath?_ " She shook her head. "Well then. I really hope you know what you're going to have to do here."

"I did it willi-"

"I'm sure you did. Everyone wants to be a hero, but I'm going to be honest with you. XCOM's no place for kids, idealists, or heroes."

"But that kid in Engine-"

"Shen is different," Carmelita answered flatly. "Her specialty is brains, not fighting. As long as she doesn't decide to pick up a gun and start shooting, she's good. My point is, you're barely an adult, much less a soldier. Certainly not special forces. I don't know what you did in the PRIEST Division, but out there, it's not nearly as easy." She sighed. "Although there's little that can be done at this point, I suppose."

I stared at her. "Ma'am, I-"

"Carmelita, please _._ "

"Carmelita-"

"Look. I'm going to be blunt about this," she sighed. "I don't deny that you really want to be here. I would be too if I was in your shoes. But from my own perspective, this isn't the right place for you. ADVENT yes, PRIESTs, yes, but not...here," she rubbed her eyes. "This is a mess of a war, and we see the worst of it. Mentally and emotionally, I can't justify it. The Commander might, and I pray he knows what he's doing. But from my perspective, you shouldn't be here. Not yet. Not until you've proven yourself."

"I-"

She didn't seem hungry anymore and stood after a few long seconds. "Think carefully, kid. I hope you prove me wrong."

After she left, I just stared blankly at my cookie.

"Dawn-"

I shoved the entire cookie into my mouth, picked up my tray, put it away, and rushed away.

_Was I worthy?_

_Was I really as good as I was supposed to be?_

_Do I belong?_

_**Should** _ _I belong?_

_Dammit it all to hell…_

I rushed back to my bunk as fast as I could, digesting both the cookie and my thoughts. A part of me felt like crying, but I decided to hold it in. I leaped onto my bunk, and pulled up some files, trying desperately to distract myself from what just happened.

_Don't cry damnit, don't cry. You're an adult, not a kid. Focus, focus, focus…_

_What would your parents think…_

_No! Don't think of them! Both of them didn't even want you to go!_

_So what if you then, huh? What happens to your parents? And Grace? Are you really okay with their minds getting wiped or whatever the hell happens to XCOM families? Can you imagine them, standing over your grave as whatever's left of you is put six feet under?_

_You made a bad choice coming here._

_No, you didn't!_

_Yes, you did! Seriously, what did you expect? Just walk in all willy-nilly and join up, guns blazing!_

_Stop! Please stop! I...I...I…_

And I started to cry. Tears began to run down my face as I pulled my head into my legs and tried to hide my face. I was alone, here, in the dark, crying.

_I wasn't ready._

_I could never be ready._

_I shouldn't be here._

I closed my laptop, put it on my locker, and pulled the sheets over me, desperately trying to hide from the world.

The lights came on.

"Dawn?"

* * *

I sat on the bottom bunk, quietly sipping on a cup of microwave hot chocolate, surrounded by at least ten of my roommates. Squaddies, whatever the hell you call them. My face was bright red, and my hair was a mess.

"What happened?" Cassandra Rivera, a sniper, asked, in an admittedly soothing Mexican accent.

I sniffled. "I don't fucking belong here. Not with you guys."

"And what makes you think that?" Vihhelmina Forslund, a telekine Templar from Sweden, with a thick Nordic accent, who wielded a _warhammer_ of all things.

"I'm a kid, for Christ's sakes! I shouldn't be here! I should be home, worrying about boys and college, getting a fucking license...fuck." I sighed, shaking my head.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did you _do_ to get here-"

"I melted a Sectoid's head off!" I blurted out.

The room went silent.

"Melted...as in-"

"I turned his head into organic, flesh and blood Jell-O. I went in deep, real deep and told the cells, 'hey, separate'. Why not!?" I was getting a little hysterical.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. You're here now-"

"No!" I swatted the inviting hand from Hammer Chick away (my mental nickname for her). "Of course I get the fucking weirdo German teacher, then Carmelita said I shouldn't even _be_ here-" Another tear fell out of my eye.

"She said what to you now?" Lian stood next me, her eyebrows furrowing.

I sniffled again. "Carmelita told me this was the wrong place for me and I didn't belong here. That I should be back with ADVENT!"

"Fucking asshole." Cassandra cursed. "Must have been in a really bad mood."

I put the cup down on the floor, balling my hands. "I'm a freak! I'm a fucking freak who kills people and I'm too young to do it!"

"Dawn…"

I looked up, and saw my reflection on a mirror on another soldier's bunk. My eyes were flaming purple, and the air was shimmering around me. I blinked, and it fizzled.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I look like a baby in front of you guys, and that I cried, and that I-"

Hammer Chick walked up to me, and gave me a hug.

"You're no freak, Dawn. You're a person, just like us. You're just a bit different, that's all. We're all here because we're good at what we do. And you? You're good, too. You may not be there like us, but you're one of us now. You're strong, but you're not alone."

"R-really?" I asked, my voice cracking with badly contained hope.

"Yes. You are."

"We're here for you."

"All of us."

I hugged Hammer Chick back, giving a weak smile.

"I...I...thanks, guys. I...I'm sorry that I've been acting like this."

"We've all felt like that before. We didn't just walk into the military all prepped up and ready to go. We had to learn, just like you."

Hammer Chick withdrew the hug, and offered me the mug again, floating it into my hand with telekinesis. I took another sip eagerly.

"She was right," I said.

"He was right. This _will_ be hard for me. Difficult. I may lose a limb, or hell, die. But you know what?"

I chuckled. "With friends like these...maybe I won't."

Lian patted me on the shoulder. "That's the spirit. You want another cup?"

"Sure."

* * *

_MELD Implantation Labs, Praesidium_

_5/10/2017- 9:08 AM_

I waited outside the door, in my fatigues, tapping a boot against the floor. I was scrolling through my phone, looking to see if I'd missed anything from last night.

After I'd calmed down, I'd stayed and talked with the soldiers for some time, getting to know some snippets about them. I was a bit lacking when it came to war stories and the like, but many of them did appreciate the psionic fuckery back in the PRIESTs.

Sisters in arms, it would seem.

I'd gone to sleep around 11, with wake-up being at 6:30. They were right- the bathrooms were so much better than the PRIEST ones. They didn't have that strange smell that I was used to before. And the beds. Man, were those comfy. Much better than home.

"Miss Conley?" A brown-haired woman with a French accent opened the door.

"Yes?"

"Doctor Caron. I don't believe we've met." She extended her hand. I shook it.

"So...surgery time?"

"Yes! Please follow me!"

She showed me through the room, to a series of large tanks. Many were filled with soldiers asleep, floating in some kind of orange liquid, with a series of tubes being stuck in their arms, legs, and backs.

"This will be your pod here, Dawn. You've read up on the augmentations, right?"

"Yeah, took a few looks on the way here and on the forms. Kinda weird what it does to your skin, though."

She chuckled. "True, many people initially find it a little...off. But you'll get used to it!

"Right. Does it...hurt?"

"The injection does. But after you fall asleep, no."

"And how long will I be asleep for?"

"Seven days. Add to that your psi implants, and that's another two. So nine in total. You'll be asleep for the entire time."

_Helluva of a nap._

"So when I wake up, how long should it take for me to adjust?"

"Eight hours, give or take. Your vision will be a little fuzzy for a few minutes. Oh, and your height _may_ increase. Only by a few inches or so, though."

 _Well, I guess being taller never hurt._ "And my muscles?"

"Will be much more powerful! You'll be able to lift several hundred pounds, run at about a consistent twenty miles an hour, and be able to see and detect, as well as react to movement extremely quickly!"

"Several hundred...damn." I grinned. I wonder if I'll look super ripped or something after this.

"Your skin will also be extremely hard to penetrate, hence the term Iron Skin. You'd be able to take bullets and laugh them off. Not that our enemies are using bullets, mind you, but if someone ever slits your throat or tries to smash your head in, you'll be quite resistant to it."

_TMI, Doc, but alrighty then._

"So...when do we start?"

"Now, actually. Here." She took a medical gown...vest thing and handed it to me.

"Put this on, there's a changing room over there. You'll wear it during the procedure." She noticed my confused look. "Ah, do not worry! Just replace your fatigues with it, and you will be fine."

I nodded and walked into the changing room. I followed the steps and walk out. I walked over to Caron and nodded.

"Step into the machine, please. This'll only take a moment."

I walked into the large tank, extending my arms and legs. I flexed my fingers and toes, waiting for Caron to finish typing. She looked up and me, and nodded as if wordlessly asking for approval. I nodded back, and the machine door closed. An oxygen mask extended from the top, which I grabbed and put on my face. A series of clicks popped up from behind me, and I felt multiple tubes poke into my limbs, pinpricking through my skin.

_Ow._

I heard gurgling sounds behind me, and I felt a warm fluid rush onto the floor around my feet. It felt like really thick water, but was a deep orange. Had to be the MELD. Caron gave me a thumbs up, and I nodded to her. The tank began to fill up, and I slowly began to feel tired.

_Here we go. Time to become a superhero._

_Nighty-night, world. I'll be back soon, and ready for whatever comes next._

As the MELD flowed into my body, I fell asleep.

To be continued in Chapter 3:

**Into the Dreamscape**


	4. Into The Dreamscape

_MELD Implantation Labs, Praesidium_

_5/19/2017- 7:28 AM_

" _Miss Conley?"_

Who…

_"She's still- -flush her system in a-"_

I don't know...

_"Pulse is- -looks good."_

Where am I?

_"No signs of rejection."_

A faint sense of panic rose in my chest. I don't know what's going on, I can't think straight. The light-

The light.

The first thing my eyes focused on was a woman, the light shining off of her glasses. It took a minute for me to understand what was going on. The bed I was lying in was soft, but strangely so.

I tried to sit up but felt a hand push me back down as I struggled. "Take it easy, Dawn. Your body is still a little groggy from the sedation. It'll pass in a minute."

I tried to look at her but there was something odd about her face. It was too detailed, yet also too blurry. My heart started thumping loudly in my ears...with an echo!

"Breathe, Dawn."

I jumped at the doctor's words before it dawned on me that I was holding my breath. I felt a heat spread across my face as I nodded, taking a few breaths. It began to calm me down almost immediately. The first thing my eyes noticed as I relaxed were the hundreds of small hexagons on my arms. Running my finger around the edges made me realize that I couldn't feel it quite like before. I felt some pressure and some other sensations, but they were muted, almost like a ghost.

"People have reported decreased tactile sensation with the Iron Skin modifications, but that's normal." The doctor said from beside me as if she could read my mind.

I could immediately feel a slight rush as I tried to sit up, getting my bearings back.

I opened my mouth to speak but found myself coughing instead. Before I was done, there was a glass of water in front of me and a knowing smile.

"Now that you're awake, I figure we can get started," she said. "My name is Dr. Farschild, and I'm your attending physician. How do you feel, Dawn?"

"I...I feel pretty tired, Doc."

"That's normal." She smiled "You'll be happy to hear that your procedure went fine, as expected. Your MELD augmentations has been successfully implemented, and your Psi implants were installed with no issues."

"That...sounds good." I felt really groggy. I keep staring at my arms and their new coloration _.'It doesn't look too bad, actually.'_

"Can you walk?"

"I think so…" I guided myself off the table, looking at the doctor. It was then that I noticed myself in the mirror on the wall.

I stared, wide-eyed, at the new me through the mirror. My body was _definitely_ different. I couldn't see much through the gown, but I definitely felt... _stronger_. There were a lot of muscles that _certainly_ weren't there before. I clenched a fist, my grip feeling much stronger. I felt….sharper. And my eyes...definitely weird.

My irises were ringed with an orange-yellow substance, definitely the MELD. My vision definitely felt much clearer than before. Everything seemed crystal clear, and then some. I could even pinpoint the small stains on the mirror, the small dots on the tiles…

"Dawn?"

"Oh, sorry. I zoned out."

"You're fine. Everyone reacts to their new body in their own way. Relax, it won't take too long to adjust. Recovery should be about...a few hours. Let's see here…"

She went to tap something on his datapad, but he slipped and dropped it.

_Snap._

The next thing I knew, the tablet was in my hand.

 _How did I react that fast?_ I stared, wide-eyed at it.

"Enhanced reflexes," she explained. "May I have my tablet back?"

"Oh...sure." I gave it back to her. _That was freaky._

"Well, just let me run you through a few tests," she continued. "Nothing major. Just a few tests to make sure you've adjusted."

I followed her instructions. When he was done, she directed me to a changing room, where my phone, clothes and fatigues were. As I changed, I checked my phone to see if I'd missed anything.

 _Oh, who blew up my texts?_ Upon closer inspection, it was my sister's number. Let's see...it looked like she texted me after I went under.

_[Hey sis_

_I know you're in surgery rn, but couldn't text you until now. Was getting settled in. Sorry._

_In the family base, got my quarters, pretty nice_

_Sis, I'm sorry to tell you. But Mom and Dad...they decided not to come. Said that 'couldn't deal with the stress'. I'm so fucking sorry. But I support u._

_They've been kinda angry about your choice to join up. But I'm not. It's pretty nice here, actually. Not a lot of ppl my age, but it's nice. Waaay better then my room lol. Apparently I can't get a job (understandable), so I've been helping watch some of the people's kids while they go to work. It's fun. They're a handful, but they're pretty good._

_Gtg sis_

_Feel better after u wake up]_

_[Hey! Sis, hope it's going well and all._

_Mom and dad are...ok I guess. They haven't spoken to you a lot, and have been pretty quiet But I'm pretty fine. I've made a few friends, they're nice people. Lots of em don't seem to mind having a kid like me working with them lol. It's fun, I've made friends with a few of the adults here, they're pretty cool_

_They sent me a short report of your operation. Hope your recovery is ok when you wake up._

_Anyway txt me asap as soon as u wake up. Maybe u can call me l8r? Let me know u r ok._

_I love you, sis_

_Bye]_

I sighed, putting the phone down. I stared at myself in the mirror. The girl that walked in there would not be the same one that came out. I was stronger, _better_ physically in almost every way.

But was it going to be worth it? I felt bad for putting my parents through this change. They'd been angry enough when I joined the PRIESTs. My mind flashed back to the blowout fight we had when Bronis recruited me.

Maybe I could see if I could talk to them later.

Speaking of my augs, I wasn't complaining. There were plenty of muscles on my body that weren't there before, the proportions and everything looked good, and I wasn't exactly complaining about my new vision.

As I threw my clothes on, my phone buzzed. It was a schedule thing.

_You will be allotted two days maximum to recover and get used to your new body. On 5/21/17 report to Project Nolan room at 12 to meet with Geist for psionic training. After the session, wait for Carreria for basic weapon training._

I sighed. _Well, that's a relief. Least I have some time to rest until then, check in with everyone else._

I wondered what I'd missed. Hopefully nothing too important.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_7:34 AM_

"Hey, look who just came out of surgery!" Lian remarked. She'd undergone the procedure a while ago, as she'd been here longer than me.

"Thanks! I'm still getting used to my new body," I gestured to myself. "My skin's kinda freaky, but it's for a good cause, I suppose."

"It takes some getting used to," she nodded. "The vision especially. You'll be able to see things and do things you didn't even know possible. Hell, you can't even cut yourself anymore. No worries about slit throats or wrists."

 _Maybe a little too much information, Li?_ "Yeah, it's...something."

"Welcome to the club." Hammer Chick chuckled, leaning on her bunk. "Look at you, all modded and grown up." Her eyes looked just like mine; brown, with the orange outline. She gave me a fist bump as I walked by.

"So Lian, what did I miss?"

"Oh? We got Caelior back!"

My eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah." Her tone of voice changed as she pursed her lips. "Then Patricia attacked."

 _Oh fuck._ "Where?"

"Washington D.C., among other places," she waved a hand aimlessly. "She tried to flood it. Likely used her telekinesis to weaponize Chesapeake Bay. Cleanser Ships hit a few cities too. Indiscriminate, but the damage wasn't too bad."

I closed my eyes. "Oh fuck."

"But wait; there's more," she continued dryly. "Betos gave a statement _condemning_ Patricia's attack. Intel says she's booted a lot of high-level alien assistance from the SAS. The Collective definitely isn't happy about that."

" _What?_ " I said out loud. I had no love for Betos, but pulling a move like _that_ sounded like a death sentence. Wouldn't suprise me if she 'comitted suicide' or 'disappeared' soon.

_Look at that, two traitor bitches going at each other. Ha. That's what you get._

"Guess Queen Bitch pissed too many people off this time." I said under my breath.

She arched an eyebrow. "Queen what now?"

"Ah. Queen Bitch of the Imperator," I said a bit sheepishly. "It's a nickname my bunkmate came up with for her."

She snorted. "Cute. A little catchy, even."

"That it is. If there's one thing Mary was really good at, it was insulting people." I sighed. I may have been able to talk to her, but there was a high possibility I'd never see her in person again.

"Sounds like a hell of a friend. So, you going to use the Dreamscape yet?"

"Oh yeah, in a few days! I'm excited!"

"You should be," Hammer Chick agreed. "It's really something. T'Leth can formulate a _ton_ of scenarios. And I _mean_ a ton. Cities, spaceships...you name it, he can do it."

"Wow," I said. "It sounds limitless."

"It is," she confirmed. "Just try not to kill youself on purpose."

"Bronis told me about that. Does it hurt?"

She paused for a second. "It kind of depends, honestly. It feels like a quick, sharp pain delivered to whichever part of your body got hit. Headshots feel like a really bad migraine. Get chopped in half by a giant sword? Poof."

"Giant sword?" I blinked.

"Battlemaster sims are no joke."

Ah. Hopefully I wouldn't be fighting _him_ yet. At least not in real life.

Hammer Chick noticed the worried look on my face. "Relax, you'll probably start off by fighting small fries. Mutons, Runiararach, Drones, what have you. And the best part? He can simulate a _lot_ of weapons for you to play around with."

"Hmmm. I'm not too experienced with anything besides basic gauss weapons," I said cautiously. "Though I'd be lying if I said using plasma rifles didn't sound inviting."

"They're better than gauss weapons, I'll give them that." Lian remarked. She looked at me. "Don't worry kid, you'll get used to it. Want to know the best part?"

"Sure."

"Time is...fluid in the Dreamscape, let's put it that way," she explained. "You could spend hours in there, and only an hour in real time would pass. Another reason it's convenient for us to train in it. We can learn and do more in less time."

"I see." There did seem to be something all of them weren't talking about. "And...you all are just okay with letting him...it...whatever...in your mind?"

"Honestly, we don't really care," Lian shrugged. "T'Leth really hasn't done anything to hurt us, and he probably knows all the stuff we already do in our minds, and then some. It's really an afterthought, and not a concerning one at that."

I nodded. Well, if they're okay with letting this...thing into my head, then I suppose it couldn't hurt.

_Hmmm. Maybe this won't be such a bad experience after all._

I laid myself down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. _Take it easy, Dawn. Just rest. How are you going to kill time?_

 _I should call my sister._ I grabbed my laptop, hit a few keys, and clicked on her picture and put in my headphones.

_C'mon sis, pick it up…_

Sure enough, she did and her face appeared on my screen. Even then, it was surprising how much she looked like me. She had my same brown hair and eyes, and our faces looked about the same - well, before I got put under the knife, anyways. She was a bit taller than me, but only by a few inches.

" _Sis! Holy shit, you look different!_ "

"Hi." I waved, smiling abashedly. "Like my augs?" Her eyes were narrowed, taking a close look at my hexagon-adorned face and my yellow-rimmed eyes.

" _I...sis, you look like a freaking superhero! That shit looks so cool!_ "

"I know. I'm still getting used to them, though. My eyesight's a little fuzzy, and my reflexes alone are something. Apparently I can get stabbed and shot and not die."

" _Kinda morbid, sis_."

"Grace, it's true though." But I didn't want to dwell on that right now. Right now, it was time to talk to my sister and have a little fun.

She nodded. " _I know. I still can't get over it. My twin sister, in XCOM. I remember when you came home from the PRIEST recruitment center with those papers. Mom and Dad's reaction...and your face_."

I nodded. The day I found out I had psionic powers, and such high potential certainly changed my life.

A story for another time.

"So, XCOM. Yeah, it's nice here. Soldiers are cool, aliens are cool, everyone's actually been pretty accepting of me here." Spare that Caremlita chick, but Grace didn't need to know that right now.

" _Have you met Aegis yet?_ " She asked.

"Yeah, briefly. He's gonna train me sometime next week. I'm worried, yet also excited. I don't really want to do anything stupid or embarassing in front of him, yet, well, he's an Ethereal. What would he _not_ teach me?" I chuckled. "Though I did meet an Oyariah."

She arched an eyebrow. " _An_ _Oyariah? Seriously?_ "

"Yep. Very intimidating. He's nice, though. But I did meet the Commander, too."

" _Oooh! What's he like?_ "

"He's…" I searched for the right word. "He's intriguing. I can definitely see why people respect him. He commands respect and attention, yet also very caring. I've only seen him once, though. Gave me a little speech about how responsible I was signing up to do this at such an age. I'm still kind of surprised that XCOM even recruited me in the first place."

She snorted. " _So am I_." I wanted to tell her about my teleporting friend, but that's probably still a no-no, even though Grace is already at the base.

"So…Mom and Dad."

Grace shook her head. " _They told XCOM they didn't want to go. Said it was 'too much stress for them to handle'. Sis, I don't know what's gotten into them, they're acting completely different. They've done a complete 180 ever since they found out_."

"I've noticed. They haven't contacted me a single time since I got here. They've only texted you?"

" _Yeah."_ She shrugged. " _Called me once or twice, just to tell me 'good luck' and that I was 'making a bad decision' for coming here. They ranted about how I was 'leaving my future' and shit like that._ "

That _definitely_ didn't sound like my parents. I knew they were upset about me joining up and everything, but this….no, no. This was something else.

"But not coming here makes it a security risk," I protested. "Surely they've gotta know that! The Zararch could easily target them if they stayed!"

" _I tried to tell them that, but they refused to go_." Grace's voice grew quiet. " _Dawn, they're very disappointed in you. They've somehow gotten it into their heads that you're some kind of brainwashed child soldier. It sounds like tinfoil hat shit, but they really believe it, Dawn_."

I put my head in my hands. Fuck, fuck , fuck. This was not good. This was not good at all. I should've known.

They fucking abandoned me. Just like that, and risking their lives at the same time. Didn't they know I needed all the support possible in this situation?

Was I dead to them? I thought they might be proud of me, even in the slightest. I mean, you don't see people like me joining XCOM every day. That alone is a huge achievement.

 _What the hell, guys_? I felt a sudden twinge in my heart as I realized that besides my sis, I'd be alone in this, family-wise. I hadn't heard anything from my extended family, and something in the back of my head told me that I shouldn't bother.

" _Dawn_?" Grace asked.

"Yeah. I'm here. I'm just thinking. It's so much to take in Grace. If only you knew half the shit that's here. If they knew-."

" _Hey. Don't be like that. I'm sure XCOM has some way to protect them. I'm sure they've got something._ "

I gritted my teeth. "Damnit, Gerald."

" _Did you just call Dad by his-_ "

" _Yes._ I'm very disappointed in him and mom," I spat. "She just sat there while he made a fool of himself." My fists slowly balled up.

" _Dawn, your eyes are glowing-_ "

" _I. Don't. Give. A. Shit._ " I said through gritted teeth. I heard the call disconnect a moment later. I almost yelled out loud, but I didn't want to cause another scene. Instead, I took my frustration on the sheets, squeezing them between my fists.

Fuck. Fuck them for not supporting me when I needed them to. I let out a low growl as I focused on the blank screen.

Gerald and Charlotte Dawn. My 'parents', it would seem, leaving me when I needed them the most. After years of being the ideal parents, teaching us both how to be good, kind, intelligent people, scurrying away when faced with all this shit. Now all I have is my sister at my back, I guess.

Now what?

* * *

_Project Nolan Training Center, Praesidium_

_Two Days Later_

_11:58 AM_

"Miss Conley. Here early, I see." Ah, Geist. Stoic as always.

"Didn't want to be late," I shrugged. "Better to be three hours early then one minute too late."

He nodded. "A good attitude to have. Do you feel ready?"

"Yes."

"You seem uneasy."

I sighed. "I am, sir. I'm….worried that I might not fare so well when I'm eventually deployed, sir. I know I'll be much better than I am now, but I'm afraid I might get killed on my first mission by something too strong for me, Like one of those Bringer types, or an Ethereal. Or even Patricia."

He nodded once. "You are right to be concerned about that. If you were to face Patricia, you would die. The gulf between your knowledge and her is...vast. Not just for you, however, for all of us."

"But...didn't she cheat?" I chose my words carefully, trying not to break the whole taboo thing Bronis told me about. "Doesn't the Imperator, like, know _all_ of the psionic disciplines? So if she's in his head and everything, then doesn't that mean-"

"No, she did not _cheat_." Geist said flatly. "Cheats are easy to determine and weed out. A cheat ultimately does not understand what they do. They exploit memorization rituals. Patterns. They regurgitate without understanding. Patricia demonstrates none of the aspects of a _cheater._ " He raised a finger. "Now, she certainly took a shortcut, but that is irrelevant. It does not matter how you learn, Miss Conley, only that you understand. It does not matter if she learned this on her own, or it was gifted by the Imperator."

He tapped his head. "We do not have _time_ to do things the traditional way. Aegis placed much of my knowledge in my head, and I have built upon it. I will not turn down means of self-improvement because of petty reasons such as 'tradition' or 'pride' - and you should not either."

He paused. "What is to be learned from her, Dawn?"

"What?" _Now_ Geist was starting to sound pretty odd. "What could I possibly learn from that animal that calls herself a psion?"

Geist appraised her. "Do you really view her as such? An animal? A puppet? Answer honestly. I will be able to tell."

"I think she's a brainwashed traitor who sold us out for power."

Geist sighed.

" _Power_ has nothing to do with it, Dawn," he finally said. "Patricia had power, both real and political here. She was the savior of Humanity. She was in charge of the psions here. She dominated alien and Human minds who opposed us. She had power. Power is empty without purpose and drive. It is not power which drives Patricia, it is ideology. It is logic. It is an argument. Patricia doomed herself with how she constructed her worldview. Reducing her to being _brainwashed_ is a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept."

"And the Collective manipulated it to make her sign up with them."

"Of course they did. All factions in this war do. It is a high stakes debate and argument when it comes to speaking to the undecided or easily swayed. The Imperator, Commander, and Saudia understand that forced power is temporary and only as strong as the weakest link. There is greater power in words and knowledge that _this_."

His hand glowed purple with psionic power, as he clenched it into a fist. "This is limited. You have power. Congratulations. So do I. So does everyone in this room. _You are not special._ You know Biopathy. Others are Nanokines. Others are telepaths who can kill others faster than you. It's uses are limited and temporary. Real power is not using it to dominate, it is learning what drives them, and shaping your words to convince them to fight and die for you. That was how the Imperator was able to convince her to defect. That is why she is irredeemable now. She will never abandon him - and it will be her choice."

He paused. "Answer me this question, since we are on this topic - what are you here for?"

I waited a few seconds before answering.

"I want to make a difference. I want to fight aliens, and protect Earth. Though after reading the XCOM files, it's...kinda changed," I shrugged. "I still want to fight aliens, don't get me wrong. They've done a lot of bad shit, and have to pay for it. But it's the Ethereals, Geist, that _really_ gets me. They made this joke of a Collective to stop...whatever wiped them out, yet they're having trouble fighting _us_ , a one-planet pre-spaceflight species. They don't have their shit together, not by a long shot. Us, on the other hand...well, ADVENT and XCOM both seem ages more competent than the Collective. If something's gotta rise after the Collective, and take on whatever's next, I don't see a better option than humanity."

"So it is a matter of organization?" Geist raised an eyebrow. "An illusion that the Collective is less competent than we are? Think carefully, Miss Conley. Think carefully on _why_ the Collective is restraining themselves. It isn't because we are somehow their equivalent. It isn't because they _couldn't_ annihilate us. Is it Human supremacy that is your motivation?"

"I...I don't believe that." I almost sputtered. "I support AEGIS - one of my friends from high school works there. I don't believe that anyone is better than anyone else. I'm no racist, but I'm damn sure that ADVENT or XCOM wouldn't ever pull off something like Desolan or Sectoid experiments in terms of atrocity levels. And I don't necessarily have issues with the aliens themselves, rather the puppet master Ethereals. And the Bringer, too. That thing….should not exist. No way in hell we would ever do something like that."

"Perhaps." One word I ignored as I kept answering

I paused. "And...well, XCOM seems to know what's up. Sure, I'm loyal to ADVENT for a lot of reasons. They've been fighting the Collective pretty well, they've fixed a shitload of problems the pre-war world had, and they're not corrupt or evil or anything like that."

I thought a bit more. "But XCOM, well you guys have more power than them. I read on EXALT while I rested up. And while that shit was incredibly surprising, there being a real life Illuminati and all, it made sense if you think about it - how they rose to power so quickly and efficiently. They were already in place - they were just waiting."

I coughed briefly. "But back to XCOM. We helped make ADVENT. We backed them. And we have a Sovereign on our side. We've come up with so many ways to whoop E.T.'s ass, and in all likelihood we'll be firing the shot that ends the Collective for good. We were here in the beginning, and I'm damn sure we'll be there when this is over. So yeah. I feel like XCOM is the best hope for humanity, and the true fist of humanity in this war. That's why I want to fight for this organization, Geist. I want to be the change."

"I see." Geist's face and emotions were unreadable. "You are at least honest with yourself. You wish to be near the center of power and to enact change, as which you understand as your vision. You have an inflated view of yourself, XCOM, and Humanity as a whole. Unsurprising, given your heavy propagandization."

"Geist...I know it's propaganda, but isn't some of it really true?" I risked challenging him. "The Collective is not the unified monolith it pretends to be. And there's definitely a lot of tension that we can and are exploiting right now."

"Of course, but the issue in your worldview is that it degrades their capabilities," he said with a frown. "You did not answer _why_ the Collective is bothering with a conventional-esque war at all."

He waved a hand. "But that is not entirely the point any longer. You said you want to enact change. So I will answer your assumption - you are not an agent of change here, Miss Conley," he said, the frown persisting. "You are a soldier. You are not here to change the world, you are here to protect it. The change XCOM brings is not the idealistic hopes you believe it will. We are soldiers who follow the orders of the Commander of XCOM and the Internal Council. If you seek _change_ , you will be disappointed. You will have knowledge, you will know things most Humans will never comprehend, but you have only just started to realize what power is - and you do not know your limits or how it can - let alone _should_ \- be shaped."

I gulped. I'd gone and made myself look like an idiot now, hadn't I? "I suppose that's true. I...goddamnit, I feel like an idiot for saying that."

"You are young and haven't figured yourself out. You will do so eventually, it is important you think on this _now,_ before you are in a situation where an intelligent opponent will sway your mind." He apprised me carefully. "One day Patricia herself may make an appeal to you. If you are not firm in your reasons and convictions, you will be swayed, even if you do not believe that now. Never forget that possibility."

He nodded towards the Orb. "We have talked long enough, and you wish for the lecture to end. Very well. Are you ready?"

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes while doing so. "Yes."

"Touch the Orb. That's all." He patted me on the shoulder. I walked over to it, eyeing the object. It was a deep, pure black. As I looked at the emptiness...strange...so inviting…

"Focus."

"Right." I strode over to it, and placed my hand on it.

Before I blinked, I was in the new world. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a large room. There were various structures dotting the room, probably for taking cover. Geist was next to me, hands clasped.

"This is the Dreamscape," he stated. "All possible thanks to our resident Sovereign. There are a wide range of simulations and scenarios which he can run. I believe he has put everything in place."

I looked down and noticed I was encased in Aurora Armor

"Oh shit!" I flexed my arms and hands, checking out the black armor on my body. It _felt_ real and _looked_ real. The helmet was strapped to my hip. As I ogled my armor, Geist simply nodded. He was probably thinking of some dry, witty comment in response to my childhood wonder. _Baby's first super-soldier armor. Someone take a picture_.

"Get used to it Dawn," he said dryly. "It will save your life."

"This is…" I chuckled as my hands flared with power. 'It's so...surreal. This is some shit out of a movie or story! It's so cool!"

_Oh fuck, I'm fangirling. Stop it Dawn, stop it._

I stopped freaking out, and put the helmet on. Its HUD lit up. _Wow, just like a video game. There's a resource manager, armor durability, a minimap...my friends would kill for this._

"I'm ready…"

"Very well. We will start at the beginning," Geist said. "Something simple. You are a telepath, and we will refine that further. With your Trask Level, it should come to you more naturally than others." He said nothing beyond that. Apparently I was supposed to do something next.

I looked down at my palms, lightly glowing with psionic power. I took a deep breath. I looked at him through my helmet.

"Okay. I'm ready. Let's do this."

"How would you rank yourself with basic telepathic commands?"

"Decent." I gritted my teeth at the thought-order of 'kill'. I'd done it to a few test subjects before fully discovering my biopathy. It kind of freaked me out how so much could be done with one simple command. The power of psionics, ladies and gents.

"Good, we will start there." He nodded upwards, and five Vitakara in Runianarch armor spawned, holding plasma rifles. They just….stood there, motionless. Creepy.

Geist stood back. "Take care of them."

"Uh...kill them?"

"I leave how you deal with them to you." He gestured to the targets. "Begin. They will act if you do not."

 _Okay._ I took a deep breath, focusing on the minds in front of me.

 _Let's see..._ I slipped into their minds. _For simulated minds, they do feel quite real. Freaky._

I breathed slowly, eyes closed, fists clenched. _Focus. Focus, focus, focus. Don't let your mind drift. Just like the videos said. Focus...no, never mind that Patricia was in those. She was good back then. Not now. You're getting off track, damnit!_

_Concentrate, penetrate, take control._

_Almost there...ah, there we go._

I was inside his...its...head. Let's see..basic motor controls, fingers, arms, legs, there. Now...about that killing thing…

I did a brief overview of the soldier, and noticed the grenade on his belt.

 _There's an idea. Okay bud, take the grenade, and throw it in the middle of the group._ I felt the subject's hand wrap around the explosive, taking it off his belt. _This is gonna impress Geist. Unique._

_Prime it._

I heard the _click_ of it activating.

_Throw._

The subject threw the grenade. I smirked, waiting for the targets to go down.

Instead, I heard something land at my feet.

_Shit._

* * *

I didn't feel the explosion that came after. Everything went white, and I couldn't feel a thing.

"Gah!"

I yelped as I… spawned, falling on my ass onto the floor. I took a look around, my heart beating with worry, anxiety, and shock. Geist was standing over me, looking down, with a raised eyebrow. My heavy breathing increased, and my heart pounded.

"What the…," I sputtered. "I don't...did I just...did I just _kill myself?"_

Geist slowly nodded, almost seeming amused. "I confess, I did not expect you to do so in _quite_ that manner."

"I swear I didn't do it on purpose!" I protested. "I thought he'd throw it at the others...not me! I...I...oh I fucked up, didn't I?"

He offered me a hand. "In a sense, yes, but you are not unique. Many people have 'died' in the Dreamscape. You are no different. What is important is that you know _what_ you did wrong and _why_ you 'died'. Death here is the result of a mistake. It is up to you to identify what that mistake was." I took his hand, standing up. I looked over myself, trying to see if anything looked or felt different. Didn't look like anything's changed. Armor's fine, skin's fine…

Geist was waiting. "So Dawn, where did you think you made a mistake?"

"I...did I not focus on the right parts?"

"Let's see." He waved a hand, and...I appeared in front of us, along with the five targets. Ah...it was a replay. Cool.

"What was your thought process going into this?" He asked. "What exactly did you consider before doing this?"

"I was thinking of ways to kill them other than just a simple kill command."

He raised an eyebrow. "But you _could have_ done a kill command."

A pause. "Yes."

"So why didn't you?"

"I…" I looked at my feet shamelessly. "I tried to do the grenade trick because I wanted to try something different. I...I did it because I wanted to make a good impression." I felt ashamed. My heart dropped.

"There is very little that you could do that would surprise me," Geist said sternly. "I suspect that on a battlefield, you will not be trying to impress me. If that is your priority, you will have died and I will have to explain to the Commander exactly why I failed."

"Yes, Geist. I'm sorry. I was being an idiot. I wasn't thinking right, dammit. I just wanted to show you what I could do."

"I am well aware of your capabilities - potential or otherwise," he answered. "Do you want to know how to impress me?"

"H-how?"

"By doing things _right_ ," he stated quietly. "When you are given instruction, complete in the most effective and efficient way possible. Do not unnecessarily rush, but understand that time is a resource on the battlefield. Stunts often waste time. Efficiency triumphs at the end of the day. The victor in war is who kills enough of the enemy first, not who does it most impressively."

With another flick of his wrist, five Vitakarian soldiers spawned again, same as before. He stepped back, nodding. "Let's try again."

_Okay, Dawn. Don't embarrass yourself in front of him again._

_Here we go…._

Penetrating minds was easy - unprotected ones at least; I learned that myself at PRIEST training. The real deal is knowing what exactly to do with them, whether it be a simple kill command or mind control. Going in deep, taking control like a puppet with strings. You are the puppet-master, yet you must build and control the strings, locking it down with your mind like a hand around a throat.

_You are mine now._

_I am in control._

_All mine._

You see, minds are somewhat...different when it comes to individual species. Sectoids have few emotions to observe - their minds are almost disturbingly simple; cold, emotionless, almost like a machine. Mutons, while also simple, are more than just that. Brutish and primitive, yeah, but there's an awful, almost disturbing amount of pain. As if someone took a hammer to their psyche.

Their minds were wrong, fragmented by the torture of the camps, being forced into what was basically an alien version of a concentration camp on a hellhole of a world, day after day of training and suffering, all in the name of false lords and gods…

Fuck the Ethereals. Seriously.

Vitakara, on the other hand, were more intriguing. Granted, I'd only had one chance to look into a Vitakara mind, and not any of the other species. But compared to a human mind, it was more...peaceful. Lax, almost. It was still very smart and almost human in its comprehension, yet there was still that distinct alien difference. More analytical, more intellectual, more empathetic.

As for Ethereals….no. Just no. I hadn't, and I wasn't really sure I wanted to. Who knows what kind of evil, horrible things one could find in there. Add onto that how complex and intelligent they are...I probably wouldn't even be able to _comprehend_ it.

Deep. Very, very deep.

I went into the mind, just like before, seeping in through the cracks and gradually taking over. T'Leth had done a good job making this one realistic. I saw memories...a family...a wife..a kid...a house, living happily together.

Seeing that life...it brought a smile to my face, and yet something was wrong. Too wrong, fundamentally flawed. Unfixable, irrevocable and _wrong._

_You're not real. It's not real. Kill it and move on. You shouldn't focus on it. Geist is waiting._

I gritted my teeth at that thought. Killing was something I'd have to do, yeah, but it still discomforted me. I'd have to make these hard decisions out in the battlefield.

For Earth.

For humanity.

For all the people killed by the Collective.

But...was it really just them that I should be worried about? After all, some of the aliens have families too. Look at the Vitakara. They were taken advantage of. They were close to ending forever as a civilization and species. And the Ethereals...they turned them into slaves. Oppressed them under a government that's any police state's wet dream.

Do these soldiers really deserve to die? Being fed lies for all their lives, then told to go kill these humans for no real apparent reason then 'because I said so: Ethereal Edition'?

Poor bastards.

And the Mutons...oh the Mutons. A primitive and helpless race, conquered and turned into a race of slaves, condemned to live in some of the most hellish landscapes imaginable, forced to be nothing more than simple cannon fodder, sent to the front lines to bleed and bleed while the other races sat back and watched as the dead and dying through attrition of horrific proportions would turn the tide..

The Sectoids. Emotionless beings, turned into drones thanks to their own invention. Their minds bent by the Overmind to serve them, using their insane genetic experiments to back the Ethereal's means of power.

The Andromedons. A species fueled by war, hate, and mistrust, whose fear of whatever drove them out of their original galaxy. Their fear of whatever would follow was used by the Ethereals to make them serve them, to fuel their fleets for the war machine.

There is only one to truly blame here.

The Imperator.

Those who follow him, be it for loyalty or self-interest.

They must die.

I stared at the poised Vitakara again.

_I'm sorry. Die...in peace. It'll be alright, I promise. Just close your eyes, and go to sleep._

The first Vitakara collapsed to the ground, his body disappearing. Part of the sim, I guessed. I took a look at the other four, standing there, waiting, oblivious. My hand slightly shook as I looked at them.

I knew they're the enemy. I knew that in reality, they wouldn't hesitate to shoot me dead. For their 'Elders'. The liars who turned people like them into pawns and sent them to die. Monsters who turned the primitive Mutons into a slave army. The ones who warped the minds of the Sectoids to serve them. The ones who enabled the Bringer to do what it's done.

We should be killing them... _I_ should be killing them. Not these innocent pawns.

_I can._

They have to pay for what they've done. For killing millions.

_Why not?_

For taking millions for their sick and twisted means.

_They need to pay._

For turning billions into slaves.

_I can make them pay._

For ripping the Earth...my world, asunder.

_Blood. Bone. Flesh. All of it._

They...need... _to_... _ **DIE!**_

A growl escaped my throat, the air flickering around me, bringing me back to my senses. I gasped, putting a hand to my mouth as I noticed the other four targets hit the ground, dead.

How…?

"Well done, Dawn." Geist pats me on the shoulder, looking at me through his helmet. "A good start."

"But-but-but I didn't...mean to do that. I just felt really angry, and-"

"And your anger triggered a reaction in your mind?" He finished. "You thought of the aliens, and you enabled it. Effective, if uncontrolled."

"But I wasn't necessarily thinking about killing them."

"But you _were_ thinking about killing," Geist looked to where the aliens had stood. "Telepathy is not a focused science. The thoughts spill and infect the unprotected minds. Collateral damage, if you wish to use the analogy."

"Um, yeah." I didn't really feel comfortable like this right now. I wasn't proud of it, that's true. But at the same time...getting all of that anger felt kinda good. Satisfying even. But yet…

"I mean, I _was_ thinking about killing...just not what was in front of me."

He nodded. "I know. Your hatred of the Ethereals is justified, and that hatred served as a focal point. It is a resource, like other strong emotions."

I nodded. "It's...it's horrible. All the things that they did-do to the Collective, I saw it in the files." I shook my head. "I don't know how they can live with that burden. Of what they've done. Being so apathetic and okay with things like Paradise." I looked at Geist, right in the eye. At least, where his eyes would have been, behind the helmet.

"Your reasons are valid, I do not dispute them," he said neutrally. "Understanding that power is important. But relying on emotions is risky. Today you killed aliens. If you allow your hatred to run rampant, it will be an ADVENT squad that dies before you. Channel your feelings, but make an effort to remain in control."

_You ever try channeling your feelings? Does he even have any?_

He gestured to the empty room again. "Shall we move on?"

"Um, sure. Sure thing." He waved a hand and the cover disappeared.

"How good are your mental defenses, Miss Conley?"

Oh. "I um, I mean they're _decent_ , I guess. I could stave off Michelle's attacks pretty decently…"

"I saw, and have read your file." He nodded. "You adeptly defend yourself against an in-training Psion-class telepath. You will be fighting much worse here." He tapped his head. "And such attacks could come anytime."

A train horn screamed inside my head. It was loud. So loud. As if there was a train right next to me.

I screamed, grabbing my helmet, trying to drown it out. I fell to my knees. I ignored the pain in my knees as I hit the ground, trying to summon something, _something damnit_ to stop it. My head pounded harder and harder. I curled up in the fetal position, trying to think of _something._

So much pain...so much…

Images flowed through my mind. Memories, no, potential deaths. Me getting shot by a Muton. An Ethereal ripping my head off. A Bringer soldier stabbing me through the chest. A figure in red armor and cape holding a sword snapping my neck.

_These are fates._

_I am not ready._

The pain stopped after a few more seconds, leaving my head sore. I was gritting my teeth, trying not to cry. I gripped my head, trying to focus on something.

"You must do better next time." He said. "Were an Ethereal or Hive Commander to do that, you would die."

I tried to say something, but I only stammered. I staggered myself to my feet, staring at Geist. I was furious. I knew he was right, but, damn, if I wasn't pissed. Without thinking, I gathered my power and launched a telepathic attack against him. I focused my anger and fury into every thought, directed towards my teacher. It should have had some kind of effect on him.

Although it initially surprised him, my attack hit the mental equivalent of a brick wall. I growled with frustration, my arms and hands outstretched, channeling more energy. _Something's_ gotta work on him! My entire form was glowing with purple fire, but I didn't care.

I had to do something.

_Make him pay! Do it! Do it!_

My constant attack didn't seem to be doing too much to him. It was like trying to knock down a brick wall using a paper bag. Maybe if I-

A psionic shield was erected around me, freezing me in place, as he looked at me idly.

"And now you understand why pure emotion is not a substitute for control."

"What the fuck, Geist? That hurt like hell!" I yelled.

"The Collective will not treat you gently, and neither will I," Geist said calmly. "You will be a target as a psion. If they learn you are a Biopath, they may try to target you more. I cannot predict their actions fully, but they will not treat you gently. The more you hurt them, the more they will seek your death. If you cannot protect yourself, you will experience worse."

He got down on one knee, looking at my tired, kneeling form.

"I know you are angry at me, and if I was in your position, I might be too. But I am your teacher. I am preparing you for what you _will face_." He paused. "You are a _child_ , thrust into a situation many would find uncomfortable. You choosing to accept this by joining us is admirable. But this is not fiction. Real life lacks 'heroes' who overcome impossible odds."

"Real life, Dawn, hurts. Death comes by slight mistakes and bad luck. All we can do is minimize this probability," he nodded once. "My job is to teach you this, to minimize that probability. Everything I do here is in service of this. Everything I am doing, I am doing for a reason."

He extended a hand. I detected a sense of...was that satisfaction?

I took it, and got onto my feet, standing tall. I took a deep breath, my chest heaving.

"Sure. Yes, what's next? Do I get to melt you later?" I said with a pained smirk on my face.

"I sincerely doubt you'll be able to."

* * *

After what felt like hours of training, Geist dismissed me. Was it tiring? Yes. Was it fun?

Also yes.

So, first grand impressions on my weird German teacher? Not bad, not bad at all. He was something, I had to give him that. He was very off-putting, to be sure, but he was definitely different. But he knew his shit. And like, he _really_ knew his shit.

Working with Aegis would be fun, though. Geist told me he'd scheduled a training session with me in a week or so. Should be fun! I could barely hold in my excitement when he told me that.

He also told me I'd be doing some physical activities in the Prasidium's various gyms, as he referred to them as. A little less excited about _that_ , but y'know, whatever helps the war effort. Now about this 'Carreria', I was in the Dreamscape, waiting for her.

In the meantime, I was toying around with the simulation capabilities. Nothing childish, mind you. Just wanted to get an up-close look at some things I'd be fighting. Man, did T'Leth know how to make copies of things. I'd spawned a few weapons to hold and inspect, and the similarities were uncanny. Looked like, felt like, all down to the most minute detail! I was quite impressed.

_This is like one big-ass VR game. I wonder if he could spawn something like a beach or cabin to hang out in. I mean if he can spawn an entire city or enemy army, it's possible._

_Oh, and T'Leth, if you're hearing this, don't take this seriously. Just thinking._

No response from Mister Psionic Space Alien God Overlord. Alrighty then. As I tapped my feet, I realized something. The entire time I was here, I hadn't felt a bit hungry or thirsty. Odd. I knew time was distorted here, but it was odd. I wondered if...hmm. I held out a hand.

"Water." A dash of water spawned on my hand, splashing on it. Ah, nice one.

" _Cup_ of water." A plastic cup of water spawned into my hand. I drank it. Damn, tasted just like the real thing!

 _Oh shit. Could I?_ I closed my eyes, thinking. _Apple. Any edible variety._

A green Granny Smith plopped into my hand. _Well, I'll be a son of a bitch. Looks like you can do that here._ I took a bite. Sour, but still tasty.

"I hate those things. Too small." I turned around, to see a different figure from what I was expecting.

A _Borelian_. A female one at that, in boots and an XCOM uniform. I knew from my research that fighting was left to the women in their culture, and were taller and stronger then their males, which stood out to me. Wonder if they'd ever had any issues with gender equality like us.

But seeing one up close was definitely something. Seven or eight feet tall, heavily muscled (she could probably rip regular me in two and not break a sweat), all covered in snow-white hair. I could see some skin on her palms and face, revealing ash-black skin. She almost looked like a Wampa from Star Wars, but I kinda didn't want to tell her that. She might take it as a slur or something.

But what really stood out to me was the _face_ of all things. She had a pair of incisors - big ones. She had visible teeth, but they seemed to move as she talked. I seemed to faintly remember that only chicks had it. Maybe it was like a sexual/romantic attraction thing?

" _Heeeey babe, nice incisors! Wanna go out?_

"Were you expecting someone different?" Her voice had a definite feminine tone, but was very thick, with a growl-like vocal sound in the background.

"I...kinda." She...laughed?

"I do not blame you, little girl. My kind can be seemingly intimidating, but do not worry. I reserve my fury for my enemies." _Was that supposed to be a joke?_ She extended a clawed hand.

"Runi'Carreria'Borelia, at your service. I'll be making sure you're comfortable and up-to-date with the weaponry here at XCOM." I reluctantly took it, putting on a smile. Damn, strong grip.

"Wait,you're still using the 'Runi' prefix in your name?" I noticed. "But you're with XCOM now."

She nodded gruffly. "I am. While I have learned the truth of how my people and others have been used by the Elders, I still keep it. Yes, I could call myself 'XCOM'Carreria'Borelia', but it is, how do you say, it does not have the same ring to it - and it is not who I am. The Elders may have used us, yet I and many others believed in the principles and mission of the Runianarch. Service to explore the galaxy and keep our people safe."

She paused. "I may be part of an innately human organization, but I am _Vitakara_. I _am_ of the Runianarch in spirit. That will never change. I do hope that when we do win this war, and my people are freed, the Runianarch can return to who and what we are supposed to be."

Wow. Going all-out with first impression, I see. What was she going to do next, bench press an Oyariah?

"That's very honorable of you," I said. "I can't say that I know much about Borelians, Carreria, but that's an interesting point of view. I'd like to know more about your people, if that doesn't get in the way of training."

"Very well, Dawn. Dawn...that is a good name. A very good name."

"Thank you. My mom wanted it to be unique. My sister didn't get the same luxury."

"And what is her name?"

"Grace."

"That is also a good name," she said. "A daughter named after the beginning of the day, and a daughter named after the epitome of being a good person. Your parents must be very proud of you both."

I nodded, getting a worried look on my face. "Yeah...they are."

"I am informed that you are an exceptionally powerful psion," she continued. "A telepath, yes?"

I nodded. "Ninety on the Trask scale, biopath. That means I control cells and tell them what to do. In my case, melting people."

She stared at me. "A biopath."

"Yeah, I know that for my age, it's weird. Hell, I'm getting used to it myself."

"It is not your age, Dawn," the Borelian said. "You know of her, right?"

"Her?"

"Sana'Ligna." The way she said that word spoke with reverence.

"Um, yeah,' I remembered that now. "I guess we're _kind_ of similar in that regard. But I'm more similar to her brother Mortis-"

She looked at me, right in the eyes. "The Collective will not react well to you, little cub. They will most certainly paint a target on your back once they find out what you can do."

"Cub?"

"A nickname we give our young. That word is the closest translation. Slang, as your species calls it."

"I see. And you're concerned about me _why?_ And you don't seem to be suprised by my age, like pretty much everyone else here."

"I will answer your second question first, the first later. Now, let us shoot guns."

She waved a hand, and a large rack of various XCOM weapons appeared, along with a firing range. Some of those guns...really brought a smile to my face. There was a massive cannon, some rocket launchers, huge sniper rifles, shit straight out of a video game.

"I was instructed to teach you the utilization of plasma rifles first, as you are not ready for the psi weapons recently developed - these are standard issue among many XCOM soldiers." She looked up and down the rack before grabbing a plasma rifle and handing it to me. "Here."

I looked over the weapon, carefully taking it out of her hands, and cradling it. There was the trigger, magazine, sight...holy shit, I held the rifle. In twin disbelief and amazement.

 _Why hello there._ I grinned at the rifle.

"While you are getting used to your weapon, I shall answer your question." She continued. "For your youth, unlike your kind, mine train from a very young age to use weapons. Classes in hand-to-hand combat and weapon usage are common in instruction camps where I come from."

I chuckled. "Sounds more interesting than my school. You'd be bored out of your mind - we just sit and take note, listening to people ramble for about eight hours."

She snorted. "They treat all children as males? It does not sound very applicable to your species."

"I'm sure it'll change now that ADVENT's running the show." I shrugged. "Hopefully the next generation will be better. I'm not the smartest or dumbest person out there, but yeah, that shit needed to be fixed."

I shook my head.

"It is nice to see you have faith in your government. I wish I could say the same for mine." Carreria said.

"No offense." I narrowed my eyes, aiming down the sights. Those eye augs really did help. Even from across the massive room, the targets were crystal clear, no fuzziness.

"Now that that is out of the way, let's begin." She clapped, and poof - I was in my armor again. Felt just like last time. She had her own armor, too - modified Titan armor, adjusted for her size. The helmet size and shape was different, but aside from that, it looked like normal Titan armor. The only other difference was the flag on her shoulder. Definitely not a human flag - probably some kind of Borelian thing. Maybe her territory's flag or something, like a country's flag?

"Very well. The build itself of the plasma rifle is bulkier than the gauss weapons you're used to, but your augmentations more than make up for that. Here's a magazine." She handed me a clip. "Make sure you put the magazine in _this_ way. See the ridges on top? That part interlocks with the gun. You'll know it does when it makes the 'click' sound. See? Try it."

I took the clip, and slid it into the gun as instructed. _Click!_ Shivering satisfaction tingled my spine.

"Good. Now, hold the gun like this, Your helmet's HUD will do most of the work, but you'll have to contribute, too." She shifted the butt of the gun to my left shoulder, my left hand on the trigger and my right hand under the barrel.

"If your helmet is damaged, the plasma rifle has an in-built holographic dot sight to help with your aiming." She noted. "Are you feeling calm?"

"I guess. I've only used gauss weapons, and I was never really a fan of guns anyway. But, I'm a soldier, and when in Rome, well, y'know."

She cocked her head. "We're not in your Italy. Though that Colosseum does look inviting to visit."

I chuckled. "Oh, it's a metaphor. Although Italy is a nice place, the term 'when in Rome' means that well, if you need to blend in and look like everyone else, you must do what they do."

She paused. "Ah. A cultural saying then. Very Dath'Haram. Borelians are more...upfront with what we say. Ah, 'no bullshit', to borrow a Human expression." She used her fingers to air-quote. "But you humans are interesting. So small, yet so vicious."

My eyebrow arched. "Vicious?"

She chuckled...rumbled? "You have much to learn, little cub. We may be taller and stronger than you, but your kind has proven themselves worthy in warfare."

"Yeah, well when your kind fights constantly for ten thousand years, you learn a thing or two!" I fired a plasma shot, which hit a target's shoulder.

"Hm. The shoulder. You have given the enemy a weakened arm. One less to shoot with. However, it will still be able to kill you. You must do better, little cub."

"Selling the nickname, huh." Damn, missed the head. That thing had a kick.

"You approve of it?"

"It's kinda cute," I said. "That's what we call baby bears on Earth, y'know. Pretty cute creatures themselves."

"You humans seem to have an odd tendency of calling creatures that could mutilate you in many different ways _cute_."

"Eh, it's a human thing. So...my aim."

"Right," she continued. "I noticed that you jerked slightly to the right when you fired the weapon. You must get used to it."

"Practice makes perfect, I guess." I looked at her. "Can I shoot again?"

"Yes. Take into account what I just said. Remember the kickback."

_Remember the kickback._

_Breathe._

_Aim._

_Pull the trigger._

The next shot grazed the top of the target's head. She nodded slightly. "Decent. Though if your target had hair like I did, I suppose she would be annoyed that her hair had been burned."

"She?"

"A habit, cub," she answered. "I remember that the gender roles of your species are inverted from our own. We tend to refer to opposing soldiers in training as female.

"Inverted how?"

"Our males, unlike yours, do not fight very much," she explained. "They are far more skilled as administrators and handling domestic duties, like raising children and cooking."

I raised an eyebrow. "Carreria, I don't really want to sound like I'm judging your people, but that seems blatantly sexist."

She seemed almost confused. "In what way? We are not Humans, cub. Our genders are best suited for different roles and there is little wrong with it. You would not place a doctor in the role of a butcher. You could, but the results are unlikely to be acceptable. So would it go if we were to place a male in charge of soldiers. How is it sexist to follow our biology and psychology, little cub? You are speaking from the mindset of a Human, not a Borelian. Your norms are not our norms."

"Understandable. But where I come from, stuff like that just isn't the norm. I'm sorry if I sounded ignorant, but I'm not going to lie and say that any society is perfect, Ria-"

She cocked her head. "Ria?"

"A nickname. For you." I smirked behind the helmet. "Do you like it?" She cocked her head, thinking.

"Ria. Ria, ria, ria….hmmm. I will accept it."

"Cub and Ria, the dynamic duo." I whispered to myself, aiming at the next target.

"A reference, I presume."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's a, um, superhero thing. You know the guys with capes?" She nodded.

"I am aware. It's creative, yes," she answered. "Many artists often depicted the Elders in such attire at times though...never in the context of entertainment. Nonetheless, I enjoy your movies. The 'Star Wars' ones especially!"

"You've seen them?"

"Yes, all of them."

"So you've seen the W-"

She crossed her arms, huffing. "If you were going to ask if I have seen the Wampa scene, yes. Do I look like one? Yes. Do I appreciate being called one? No. My mate, however, has taken to calling me it to make fun of me."

"Wait. You're married?"

"I am. He, along with me, surrendered in Korea."

"But I thought you just said your males didn't fight?"

"They rarely do, but they are perfectly capable of serving in the Runianarch," she clarified. "He was a communications officer. It was always so pleasing to hear his voice over the radio." Something told me that under the helmet, she was smiling. "He works here now, living at the 'Paperclip Base' with me. 'Analysis and Communications'. He also advises your ADVENT on Collective troops and strategies when requested."

"What's his name?"

"Sadeath." She said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Your husband's name has the word _death_ in it?"

"An odd thing to fixate on," she said in a dry voice. "Certainly adolescent. Do recall that there are differences of language and writing, cub."

I decided to quickly move past that. "Is he a good partner?"

"Are all Human adolescents so intrusive? Of course he is," she gestured to the range. "Enough relationship talk-"

I fired again, this time blowing a hole through where the target's right eye would've been.

She narrowed her eyes. "Did you do that intentionally?"

"Maybe." I said with a snort. Her towering form looked past me, at the target.

"Hm. Headshot. Acceptable kill."

"Yeah, but it was kind of a messy shot thought."

"It is a start," she nodded. "You are doing about as I expected for a recruit I'd be training. Here is what we will do, you will shoot a few more clips," she paused, walking over to the rack and grabbing a belt of grenades. "And we try your hand with grenade throwing later."

Oh boy.

* * *

After saying goodbye to Carriera, I headed to the mess hall for dinner, checking my phone along the way. Two notifications stood out to me. One more _right out of nowhere_ , the other more...personal.

_From: XCOM Analysis and Communications_

_To: All_

_As you all may know, Caelior has been successfully rescued from the Collective, and is making an excellent recovery. To celebrate the return and successful recovery of Caelior, we will be hosting a basketball game where our two resident Ethereals square off in the Psionic Training Arena in a match of wit, skills, and psionics._ _If you wish to join one of the teams, notify us within the next week._

_Drinks and food will be provided, for both Human and alien guests. More information will be sent shortly._

As I picked my jaw off the floor from _that_ announcement, the second one hit me even harder. It was a single sentence, sent from my parents' text number.

_[We need to talk.]_

Well, shit.

To be continued in Chapter 4:

**Terminators, Riders, Shoggoths, and Family Drama, Oh My!**


	5. Terminators, Riders, Shoggoths, and Family Drama, Oh My!

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_5/28/17_

" _No_."

That was my parents' reaction to seeing their little girl's face for the first time after I'd gone under the knife, so to speak, as they stared at me through the computer screen. I was worried as to _how_ they'd react to seeing my yellow-rimmed eyes and my hexagon-adorned skin. That, or how my muscles somehow doubled in size, and that I could tip over the family car without much effort.

And that wasn't even getting into my psionics and the menagerie of strange friends I had. You know how dads always freak the fuck out when their daughter brings home a boyfriend? Imagine his reaction when I would tell him about how one of my only friends there was a teleporting Japanese guy, my prime teacher was a near-emotionless German guy who actually made a " _real" volcano_ for his students, and I had a Borelian weapons instructor.

I'd decided that the augmentations would be a good start, then we'd go from there.

" _What did they_ _ **do**_ _to you, Dawn_?" My dad asked, openly gaping at my face.

"They...they made me better, Dad. So that I don't die when they send me out. Didn't you read the info they sent you?" They were clearly in shock, still getting used to my makeover. Couldn't _completely_ blame them. Not sure why they'd neglected to read the report, but...

" _I...Dawn, you're just so_ _ **different**_ _!_ " Mom exclaimed. " _I mean, your skin, your eyes...you're like a completely different person_!"

"Mom, relax. I'm still me. I'm just a little different, that's all-"

" _A_ _ **little**_ _different? Dawn, you've changed, and in a lot of ways! You don't seem to be concerned about any of this at all!_ " She almost stammered. " _Don't you think you're jumping into this a_ _ **bit**_ _too quickly? I mean, you're_ _ **eighteen**_ _, for Christ's sake! Have you even considered that this is going to be too much for you?_ "

My chest tightened as I heard the pain in their words. I knew they were concerned. I knew that they were scared. If I was in their position, watching _my_ kid go through all of this, I would probably have acted the same way, no doubt about it.

The anxiety of knowing your kid, the child who you had raised for so, so long and put so much time, effort, dedication, and love into, could die at any moment? But the worst part is that, in this case, death wasn't even the worst fate. I could be turned into one of those Bringer things, like what almost happened to that Fatima woman.

Kunio had told me about what had happened during Caelior's rescue, and it wasn't pretty.

I was just glad one of those brain creatures hadn't shown up in Beijing. Would've made things a lot worse down there, I'd imagine. The mental picture of that...fuck it, I'm not calling it a thing - that'd be giving the Bringer too much credit. More like an abomination pulled from some sick interpretation of a Lovecraftian book. Only that in this case, Cthulhu sounds like the better alternative compared to the brain creature's master.

That singing he described...I couldn't even…

"Mom. Dad. Look, I know that this whole situation is stressful for you-"

" _Stressful is an_ _ **understatement**_!" Dad emphasized, pain in his voice. " _We love you Dawn, but you just feel so_ _ **numb**_ _to all of this insanity! You're a kid in XCOM! Doesn't that sound a little insane to you?_ "

"Dad, I know," I tried explaining. "I've thought about this, and I have a lot of support here. They have therapists, and my squadmates have been helping-"

" _Squadmates?_ _ **Squadmates**_ _? Dawn, listen to yourself! Is there anyone there even close to your age?_ "

"No!" I wasn't going to bring up that Lily chick. Probably a security risk. "Yeah, they're much older then me, but they have _experience_ with this kind of stuff! A lot of them have killed aliens, hell, some of them fought in Beijing! And they're helpful! They've made me feel at home here." _Well, as close as it could be to 'home'. No time for videogames or weekend slumber parties._

"Look," I sighed, trying to calm myself and this whole conversation. "I know this sounds cheesy, but this -" I gestured to the bunks around me, "This could teach me something. I've had to, and will have to, grow up a lot. I'll have to be a lot more responsible and mature when doing this. I can't exactly sit on my ass and text all day. I have to _do shit_ in a structured fashion."

" _Where are you going with this?_ " Dad raised a very concerned eyebrow. " _Don't give me any of that bull that's 'going to prepare you for life'._ "

"Dad! No! I just…" I sighed. "It was a unique opportunity, and I could do a lot of good in this position, especially with my abilities."

" _Is that why you decided to leave, Dawn_?" He asked. " _Were you tired of living 'normally'? Is this why you joined up with the PRIESTs instead of going to college? We could have afforded it! And here you are, off playing soldier!_ "

"And risked going into debt? Dad, we both know we would've had to take out loans to do it! It would've almost ruined you guys!" _Granted, that was before ADVENT showed up, but still._ "Dad! What's the point of getting a degree if we lose this war? What good would an archaeology major do if we're all slaves like the Mutons? Besides, I'm the _only_ Human that can do what I can do. I can do much more _here_ than anywhere else!"

" _So that's how you see yourself? As a weapon?_ "

"Well...no...but...damnit, that's not what I mean!" I scowled. "The _point_ is, I've made my choice, and I _want_ to do this! And if you're concerned about money, the XCOM perks are great! Have you seen the benefits and what have you! The paychecks alone will make sure we won't ever have to worry about money again! Remember how you two both had to work multiple jobs in middle school to put food on our table? That's never going to happen again, _ever!_ We're going to be fine, money-wise!"

" _Money? You could possibly die anytime, and you're trying to legitimize this with_ _ **money**_ _?_ " Mom asked. " _Dawn...your life matters more than just money!_ "

 _Fuck. That didn't come out like I meant for it to._ I sighed, batting some of the hair out of my eyes. _I just wanted them to understand._

"Look." I stared at my parents with determination. At least, I tried to paint the picture for them. I _wanted_ this. I felt _empowered_ doing this. I could do things barely anyone my age could ever do or accomplish. I could have a greater impact on this conflict than many. Hell, maybe I could even kill one of those Ethereal fucks. Who knew? But yet...a part of me, a little voice in the back of my head, told me that my parents were right.

I _shouldn't_ be doing this.

Did I really _want_ to do this?

Was I being selfish?

"I know that we see this differently. I know this whole thing is really, really fucked up for everyone involved. I know that you're worrying about me. In fact, I _love_ that you're worrying about me. It shows that you care." I closed my eyes briefly. "I know-I know we're not seeing eye-to-eye here, completely. But I just want you to _understand._ I want you to know that your daughter _wants_ this. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. Whether or not it will be worth it, well, we'll see. But…" I squinted an eye, holding back a tear. I touched the screen with my hand, just trying to feel closer to them.

"I love you both. I love Grace. No matter what happens to me, I will always love you. Okay? And if...if I die...I get captured...if I get turned into one of those things...I'll be there." I sniffled, gritting my teeth as I tried to hold back the emotion. "I'll be watching over you. You'll never be alone. I always-"

A klaxon alarm sound blazes through the barracks. My phone popped up with a text:

 _New York City under attack by Patricia Trask._ _Other entities yet to be determined. Force composition to be determined. Objectives unknown._ _Squad formations have been sent out._

Oh no.

"I-I gotta go!" I slammed the computer shut, pulling out the headphones, and slipping on my boots. I sure as hell wasn't getting deployed, but maybe I could watch it somehow. Wouldn't surprise me if they had more, ahem, _secretive and direct_ ways of viewing the battlefield. As I tied my laces, I noticed Vihhelmina's shocked look on her face. I'd never seen her look like that before. Ever.

"What is it?" I asked her, as she turned to me.

"I may not be back," she said. "I'm being deployed."

 _Oh fuck._ She noticed the color drain out of my face. She quickly put a hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eyes.

"If I die, Dawn, do not dwell on my death. Remember me as a friend and comrade. Remember me as a good soldier and helper." She pulled me into a quick hug, then ran off. I blinked, gaping as I tried to process _what the actual fuck was going on._

_Did she just say goodbye?_

I ran into the hallway, which was somewhat surprisingly calm, considering the circumstances. I saw soldiers and support personnel running back and forth, probably to arm up. I tried asking around to see where I could find more information about the attack, but I got no responses. I looked around, maybe someone could-

"Dawn!" Kunio said, spotting me. He looked worried.

"Kunio! What's going on?"

"An operation. _Big._ Commander's calling in six squads to deal with it. I'm being deployed too."

"Oh. I-"

"Sorry, I need to go. Clock's ticking." he started to run, but he turned around. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back."

"But K-"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be back before you know it. Do me a favor, and stay calm." he ran off after that, presumably to armor up.

 _Good luck, buddy. Please don't die._ My hands tightened as I repeated the message to myself, trying to stay calm as my heart started to beat faster and faster.

_Patricia won't kill them, Patricia won't kill them…_

Someone angrily rushed past me without a word, and would have hit me if I hadn't moved away at the last minute, holding her helmet in one hand, with her sword strapped to her back. Oh, it was Fiona. Maybe she knew something about this. I attempted to say her name, and raised a hand to try and get her attention.

"It would be wise not to interrupt her at this moment, little girl." a curt voice interrupted, and I looked behind me, to notice another Sovereign Agent, the one who looked like a DnD character with the odd robes and staff. What was his name again? Crevan?

Whoever his name was, he didn't waste any more time on me and continued his brisk walk, presumably after Fiona. He may be on our side, but I would be lying if I said he didn't creep me out. The whole wizard-robe-staff getup just...stood out, but it was the mix of his height and his creepy look on his face he'd briefly given me was just...off-putting.

_What the hell was all that about? What did I do, walk into Sovereign drama?_

_Eh, better not to ask. It's probably classified anyways._

_Not like either of them would answer me regardless._

I followed a group of soldiers to one of the Praesidium's several situation rooms, lined with big, fancy flat-screens, tables, and seats, to sit and watch...well, whatever they were playing.

Which were all currently generating footage of Patricia's rampage.

Lovely.

I'd heard that several soldiers died in this room when Patricia attacked the Praesidium, and sometimes when I'd wander into these rooms to kill time, learn or just try to meet some people, I would get this chilling feeling that the places I'd stood in or sat down in had been someone's final resting place.

Not helping.

The footage quality wasn't the best, taken from security cameras and phones, but it was enough to see some of what was going on. None of the stations were even running footage, all of it was coming from livestreams and social media. She was bringing the entire city down, and seemed to be killing anyone who resisted. The body count was going up by the minute, and all I could do was watch.

Super villains had a weakness. A silver bullet to end them with. And as far as I was concerned, she didn't have one. The most powerful human psion, sharing a mind-link...thing with the most powerful Ethereal.

_How do you beat someone like that? Have T'Leth just pop out in front of her and go to town on her? It'd be a helluva show, sure, but I don't think the Imperator would respond too kindly to something like that._

_So what else can we do? Lure her somewhere, then use a nuclear weapon or something? Take her on with a shitload of soldiers both of our Ethereals, and all of our Sovereign Agents? But even if we did, couldn't he just get another one? If_ _**she** _ _could be bent to his will, I'm sure other people could just as easily fall to him…_

_And how would we retaliate to this attack, anyway? Does the Collective have the equivalent of New York? Maybe somewhere on Vitakar or Desolan, perhaps?_

I saw something that may have been a nanokine attack. I couldn't tell, but it definitely _looked_ and _sounded_ like one. Thunder follows lightning.

_Why not kill them with a telepathic attack, then? Make it less painful and reduce the suffering? Of course she would make it painful, she's barely even human anymore, she probably doesn't even know what morals or mercy_ _**are** _ _anymore._

_Bitch._

"Oh shit! Look!" I took another look at the screen. It was Fiona! She'd appeared and engaged Patricia in a very intense 1v1. I stared closely, trying to make the best out of the fuzzy footage we had. She was fighting her...then...then her armor cam went black.

* * *

_Two Hours Later_

Sitting in the Mess Hall, poking at my pot roast, which I'd normally devour, I tried to just...make sense of what had happened that day.

What I definitely did not expect to happen that day was the fucking Imperator showing up. I saw it through Kunio's helmet cam, and it was just so...unreal.

He was...huge. His form and armor was incredibly intimidating, and from what I'd seen for files and video, had the most gold incorporated into his armor. Probably to make himself look even _more_ important, but what really stood out to me was his massive height. He was just so….big.

And incredibly powerful.

A threat we'd all have to fight eventually, be it tomorrow, next week, next year, it would have to happen eventually.

But how do you fight something that doesn't try to play fair, like the Battlemaster, and kill you without a second thought?

How can you fight a hammer, if you're just a nail to them?

* * *

_Project Nolan Training Center_

_6/01/17- 4:10 PM_

I'd heard about MECs. I'd read a bunch about them, and was lucky enough to see a suit once or twice. But I'd never met one of the pilots in person.

Until now.

I'd been taking a break during my free time with the Dreamscape, after I'd gotten done with some messing around with my biopathy. Time and speed had been my key priority right now, as the enemy wasn't certainly sitting around and waiting for my abilities to take effect. I'd been trying to think and play around with ways to shorten it when a MEC pilot showed up.

Her name was Sierra Morrow, and upon initially meeting her, I was already intimidated. She'd been in XCOM since Australia, fought in all the major battles, and was one of the most experienced Archangels in existence. She had hundreds of kills, if not a low thousand, and she had faced an _Avatar_ \- the Battlemaster's Avatar of all people and _survived_.

Barely, but she had.

 _That_ is what badass sounds like. Seriously, if that didn't check all the boxes for being a soldier, I didn't know what did. Oh, and she was almost _seven_ feet tall.

"You're a _biopath?_ " She'd asked me warily. I didn't blame her - she'd been under the knife for her Shale procedure when I'd joined up.

"Yep. I was just taking a break. Can I ask why you're here?"

"Teens in XCOM. Interesting," she shrugged her massive shoulders. "To answer your question, I'm here to test my augments. I've been awake for a few days, and need to understand my limits. I suspect I will be needed very shortly."

"Oh! That's neat! Um...do you mind if I tag along? I haven't done any training here with anyone besides Geist."

Sierra cocked her head at me. "How proficient are you with your abilities?"

"Decent. I can handle a rifle okay, and my psionics are decent."

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Couldn't hurt. Alright, I'll take care of the sim details. You want to go now?"

"Sure!"

And that's how I ended up in the Dreamscape with her. Truthfully, I was excited to fight with someone besides Geist, and a non-psion as well. She'd refused the offer of any guns or grenades.

Well, her funeral then.

"So." I coughed. "Are we going to get started? I've never worked with a MEC before, so I'm sorry if I sound kind of anxious. You do know how to use your augmentations, right?" Hopefully I didn't sound a dick saying that.

"Yes. I'm going to do something. Do not be alarmed." Something about her voice sounded artificial, but I didn't want to ask why. What she did next...straight out of the horror movie.

Her skin...retracted, seemingly melting her own face off, leaving only a face of bare metal. Oh, and with glowing red eyes as well.

_Holy fuck. XCOM made a T-800 in real life. If she says 'I'll be back' or 'Come with me if you want to live', I'm gonna leave the simulation._

I gaped and stared, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I was sure she could see through that too. I had no words.

"Ok, that's new." I squeaked out. "Uh...we ready?"

"Put on your helmet," she ordered, which I obliged, trying not to piss off Terminatrix. "Follow my lead. You are a telepath, yes?"

"Well, biopath, ma'am-" I said. After seeing _that_ , I was really on edge.

"If you can sense them, tell me tell me where and how many. You can do that - yes or no?"

Jeez lady, I'm not incompetent. "Yes! Geist has been teaching me some techniques. I'm getting better, but don't expect me to show up on the battlefield anytime soon. And um, don't expect any melting. Still takes me a while to do that. My shooting's pretty decent, though."

"Then let's go. Start it, T'Leth." The air shimmered, and so it began. I projected my mind, searching for targets. It had become more seamless as I'd trained more and more in XCOM. I kind of felt bad for the other telepaths I'd trained with. They'd missed so much, and could learn so much from this.

"Uh...five or six, something like that." Andromedons, Mutons, and Vitakara. Standard ground troops. I was going to tell her that I could kill them easily, then (after thanking me!) she ran _through_ the wall and started fighting.

 _Okay_ then. I'd let her kill some things, while I'd kill the rest. I immediately zeroed in on the three Vitakara, ignoring the Cobrarian. As intriguing as controlling such a flexible creature would be, I let her fight them. I focused on the Vitakarian minds. As I killed two, I decided to hijack another's mind, to watch Sierra as she fought.

And boy, did she fight.

She ripped the Andromedons apart like they were nothing, took multiple plasma shots to the chest and shrugged them off - without any armor, mind you, and made them mincemeat. She was the literal physical embodiment of 'rip and tear' and I was _really_ tempted to ask T'Leth to play Doom music as she slaughtered them.

By the time she'd gotten to my impromptu video camera, I flipped the kill switch and neutralized all three targets. I walked through the hole in the wall, into the bloodbath she'd created.

"Uh...you didn't want me to save them for you, right? Thought I'd step in, help you a bit in there, if that's okay…." I took it all in. "Wait...holy shit. You did all that with your _hands_?" She strode over to me, covered in blood, and patted me on the shoulder. "No, good job. I'll give you a few more next time. Up for a few more?"

Well, I was kinda bored, with nothing to do. Fuck it. I might even make another friend.

"If you want to. I mean...yes! Looks like we both did pretty well. Besides, I've got nothing else to do right now, and you're the first person I've actually fought with in the Dreamscape besides Geist. But, um...you got any other surprises in there I should know about?"

"I don't think so."

I could tell she was lying about having something hidden up her sleeve, but I played along. "Alright, cool!"

"Stay with me. Let's see what else T'Leth has in here."

* * *

An hour later, I panted, reloading my assault rifle after the two of us made short work of the street block. It had even given Sierra a run for her money, downing those Titans like that.

But she had me, a telepath, with her. Made things much easier for us both. As we turned the corner, trying to catch our breath, we saw our next group of enemies. An entire park filled with Andromedons, Titans, Berserkers, and a Herald or two.

 _Ah shit. Gonna have to get creative with this one. Let's see, maybe I can mind-control the Titans to-_ Sierra tapped my shoulder.

"I've got these guys."

"All by yourself?" I gaped. "Are you insane? Your rifle's almost out of ammo!"

She simply cocked her head, and her voice sounded amused. "I'll be back."

"What the fuck, Sierra?!" I shouted, whipping out my gun as the horde began to approach. _You know what? Fuck it. If I'm gonna die, better make it a bloodbath for them._ As I creeped into one of the Titans' minds, seeing if they could get some damage on the Herald with their melee attacks, I heard something from above.

I heard the roar of what sounded like aircraft engines in the distances. What just happened _? The hell, did she call in an airstrike or something?_

No, because this is XCOM. In XCOM, you don't call in the airstrike.

You _become_ the airstrike, of course! Why not?

Up there, in the sky, like a guardian angel coming to save me, was the Valkyrie MEC I'd only heard rumors about. With Sierra at the head.

It was beautiful. At least as tall as the Battlemaster, with giant wings and arms with god knows how many weapons on it, coming to save me. Man, if I could, I would pain the living shit out of that thing. But not now. Now was time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the fireworks. I stepped back as a ClF3 warhead hit the dead center of the group, turning them to ash in a massive explosion. She sprayed napalm at the Andromedons, who cooked while she did a 360, flying around as we watched them burn.

I...I had no words, yet again. Only my facial expression is similar to that of a yellow-haired creature. She landed next to me, the both of us staring at the carnage.

"That was _**AWESOME!**_ " I looked at her, barely able to contain my excitement. She nodded at me.

" _This what you wanted_?" She asked through the radio.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes! I wanna do that again!"

" _Maybe later._ " She chuckled, giving me a thumbs-up with her MEC hand.

Truly a magnificent day.

" _And Dawn?_ "

"Yeah?"

" _You were pretty good out here. If you want to sit with me in the Mess tonight, feel free. I think a few of my friends would like you."_

* * *

_Mess Hall, Praesidium_

_6/01/17- 6:30 PM_

I sat next to my new MEC pilot friend, food in front of us, waiting for her Archangel buddies to show up. I was still a little creeped out by her de-skinning trick and red eyes, but she'd stayed 'normal' for now.

Was there ever truly a normal in XCOM?

"Sierra! How'd the Dreamscape go-" A man who I assumed to be Ted stopped in his tracks, looking at me. I decided to smile and wave.

"Hi." The woman next to him, who I assumed to be Anna, just stared. I looked at Sierra.

"Have they seen me before?" She shook her head.

"I don't think so." The two Archangels paused for a moment, looking at me. Then they looked at each other, as if puzzled or something. They then reluctantly sat by Sierra, giving me some room.

"Who's this, Sierra?" The guy asked. _Great, I need to go through the explain-who-I-am-and-watch-the-adults-react trope._ But before I opened my mouth, Sierra took care of it for me.

"This is Dawn Conley. I spent a few hours in the Dreamscape with her, trying out my augs. She's a biopath."

"I...she's a what now?" The woman asked with a frown.

The guy just nodded. "A biopath. Same thing Sana and Mortis can do."

"Oh." They both looked at one another, then at Sierra and me. The woman was the first to extend a hand, followed up by the guy.

"Anna Pavlova."

"Ted Holden." I shook both of their hands, smiling.

"Always nice to meet new people! I can't say I'm too experienced here - only been here since May. But I'd be lying if I said this place wasn't incredible! There's so much to learn and do. The other soldiers have been really helpful with getting me up to speed with everything."

"That's...good." Ted said, probably still a little surprised that a teenager works for XCOM now. "So, if you don't mind me asking, psion-to-psion, how the biopathy trick works?"

"It's kinda interesting. See, it's like normal telepathy, right? Only you have to go _really_ deep into the mind." I peered at him. "Are you a telepath?"

"Dynamo."

"Ah, ok," I nodded. "Well, you know the basics of how regular telepathy works? You have to go past that. If you go deep enough, you can figure out the cells. In my case, I simply told my test subject' cells to split apart. Next thing you know, the scientists are dragging me away from a Sectoid whose head just melted off."

"Must've been ugly." Anna noted.

I nodded. "Gave me a ton of nightmares for a while after that. Next thing you know, Bronis showed up at my PRIEST facility, asked me to join. I said yes, and here I am!"

"Must be a lot different for you,." Sierra said. "Always a period of adjustment for civilians."

"Eh, once you get past the Illuminati, Sovereign Ones, and the worldview-shattering information, it's not all bad." I chuckled. "The augs are pretty cool, the armor is neat, and the information you can learn is really something. But I guess it's something you get used to here?"

The trio nodded. "You do. Though whenever you think something's enough, it gets even crazier. The three of us joined up shortly after Australia."

My eyes widened. "So you were in Sherman?"

Nods all around.

"Um...Beijing?"

The nods were less enthusiastic.

"All three of you were in Florida, right?"

More nods.

"Um, can I ask you guys something?"

"Sure," Anna said. "You can ask us anything."

"What was it like? Fighting the Dragon?"

"Hard. _Really_ fucking hard.," Anna said, grimacing. "She's an expert telekine. Doesn't help that she's linked to the Battlemaster, which means he's usually close by. But we _almost_ got her, damnit." She slammed a fist into the table, causing our trays to rattle.

Ted raised an eyebrow. "Did we though?"

"Fine. _We_ didn't," Anna corrected. "Just need the right tools next time."

"Indeed." Sierra added. "Next time will be more...even."

"You'll kill her?" I asked.

She nodded firmly, a thin smile appearing on her face. "Yes."

I nodded. "You know, I'm surprised she's with the Collective in the first place. I read her dossier. She's Chinese, the same place that the Bringer fucked over, all thanks to the Imperator. _And_ the Battlemaster."

"Please kid, if nationality mattered, spies and traitors wouldn't exist. She could be Iranian and it wouldn't matter one bit." Ted shrugged, drinking some water. "Besides, there's no telling what happens to you when you link your mind to an Ethereal."

I nodded. I knew cognitive dissonance was a thing, but _that_ \- that was just plain fucking idiocy. How the hell could you be loyal to the Imperator, much less the Battlemaster, after they've let all that shit (cough cough, Paradise), fly?

Eh, I suppose the Ethereals do have their methods of twisting people.

"So...so you feel comfortable here?" Ted asked, shifting the topic.

"It's certainly better than high school," I said. "I get to do stuff that practically no one else my age can do, and I can use that power to do my part in the war. I figured I'd do the most by coming here, and make a dent, y'know?"

"You want to do your part. Respectable." Anna said.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not being deployed yet. I've still got a lot of training to do. Geist's been an awesome teacher. He's a little weird, sure. But he really knows his shit. Couldn't have asked for more." I thought of something. "So you asked me, now I get to ask you - can you shoot beams out of your hands?"

"Oh yeah. I've gotten really good at it," he nodded. "But, while not to completely change topics, I've always wanted to know what it's like, going into people's minds and all that."

"It's...ah, how do I say this?" I thought briefly. "It's like moving yourself out of your own body, and into someone else's. You're taking them over, and essentially taking their free will away and being like, 'I am the captain now.'" I paused. "It's...kind of like that." I return to slurping my soup.

"Well, you seem pretty nice, Dawn," Ted nodded. "If you have some free time for the Dreamscape, how about we meet up, practice some stuff? I know a few psions who would be interested in working with a biopath. We've all seen a lot, and maybe we could teach you a few things? Check with Geist, obviously, but I think it'd be good for all of us."

"Sounds like a plan!" We shook, gave each other our usernames for the chatroom, and parted ways.

With friends like these, maybe it won't be entirely bad after all.

* * *

_Shoggoth Playground_

_5/29/2017- 7:23 PM_

Never in my life would I have imagined watching a bunch of Lovecraftian octopi and calling it _fun._

But you know what they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

The place itself was nice, at least. Pools, some waterfalls, and some kiddy obstacle courses for the creatures to play and explore in. There were also a _lot_ of toy blocks of various types for them to build with, seeing as they were surprisingly intelligent for creatures of such a variety.

They were absolutely _fascinating_ \- making that admittedly cute trilling noise as they crawled around and explored, finding intriguing ways to spend their time, like building Lego... _creations_ (jealous), climbing, and eating...whatever was in those purple sticks.

One of the tentacled master builders stopped what it was doing and noticed me. It began to travel towards me, the Lego airplane - a generous interpretation if one was so inclined - in one tentacle, the others traversing across the floor, propelling it towards me.

_Aaaaand I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going._

"It's okay, she won't hurt you!" A voice called out. "They're quite harmless towards humans. Vendesh! Here, girl!"

_It's a she? How do they, wait- do they...nope nope nope. Not thinking about that._

The Shoggoth trilled, and crawled over to the woman, who was wearing an XCOM uniform with a symbol that I didn't recognize. Probably meant 'Shoggoth Handler'

"Slyvia Allais, Shoggoth Handler, pleasure to meet you." She extended a hand. I took it, surprised she wasn't surprised about my age then most people here at first glance. I smiled.

"So this is where you train the Lovecraftian horrors straight from hell?" The both of us chuckled lightheartedly.

"Yep! _Cute_ Lovecraftian horrors, though." She sat down, crossing her legs, indicating for me to do the same, which I reluctantly did. She guided the Shoggoth onto her lap, which squeed.

"Awww, look at you! Did someone grab an _airplane?_ " She gave it a head pat, which it responded in kind with a tentacle wrap around her hand for a few seconds. She looked at me, smiling. "Want to say hi?"

I shrugged, trying to hide the _what the actual fuck am I doing_ face and nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Dawn Conley."

"Oh, that's a great name! I've never met a Dawn before." _Kinda the point, but it's a nice one._ She looked at it. "Vendesh. You want to meet a friend?" It trilled again. Kinda sounded like a very quiet blender. "That means yes!" She whispered to me with a smile. "Ready?" I nodded.

The Shoggoth crawled over her lap and across the floor onto mine. It felt...completely new, different than my old dog, certainly. It curled some of the tentacles in my lap to support itself, and began to...explore. A tentacle on my left arm, a tentacle on my right, and one on my head, feeling my hair.

_Stay calm, Dawn. Don't freak._

"She loves hair in particular, more than the others. Not sure why, though. How does it feel?"

"Weeeird. But she's...really something. It's so surreal. They're immune to telepathy, right?"

"Yep. But these little buggers are quite resilient things. I'm assuming you're a psion or something?"

"Yeah. I'm a telepath. Biopath, actually."

She nodded. "That means you melt things, right?"

"Yeah." I slowly patted the Shoggoth's head, while a tentacle further explored my hair. _Great. Good Shoggoth. Don't choke me out, okay?_ "I tell cells what to do, and they do it. I could _theoretically_ do the opposite with healing, but I'm sticking to the melting for right now."

"That must be a lot of pressure for someone your age."

"It is." I said quietly. "But I chose it. And it's not all bad. I have a great support network. Commander definitely made sure I'd be helped. I have a good teacher in Geist, and soldiers have been offering to do sims with them. Most people have gotten used to me by now. But...I never really saw myself as doing this, but you know what? It's not bad. Not bad at all-"

_Plop._

A tentacle lightly slapped the top of my head. Then the Shoggoth did it again. _Pat. Pat. Pat._

_Is it headpatting me? The hell?_

She laughed. "She's copying you! Look!" I slightly turned my head, looking at a mirror across the room. _It is!_

In response, I giggled, rubbing its rubber-like skin. It trilled again, rubbing my hair again. I looked disheveled, but I didn't care. _Unusually wholesome for XCOM, but then again. That's XCOM, baby._

"Good Shoggoth. You're cute. Good girl." _Maybe this wouldn't be so weird after all._ It paused for a moment, then turned to the airplane it had been neglecting up until now. It handed it to me, along with a group of bricks its tentacle had enrolled.

"What do you….oh, you do want me to help you build your little airplane?" It let go of both of my hands, and stared, I think, at the airplane. I reluctantly put a piece of the unfinished right wing on, and it gave a small trill. I looked at Sylvia, who was holding up a phone, recording. She nodded, saying _go on, it's okay_ with a nod. I attached another piece, being rewarded with another trill.

"I used to play with these so much when I was younger, you know." I wasn't really talking to anyone specific in general, but Vendesh and Slyvia could definitely hear me. "My sis loved dolls, I played with Legos. So creative, you know? Just take one block…" I attached a brick to the 'tail' of the craft, with a satisfying _click!_ Sound. "And you can do so much with them. You can make anything out of them, you know?"

Kind of like cells. They made up every part of you.

And I could control them.

Is that what I was? A puppet-master, telling these little things to do whatever I wanted. Just toys for my own satisfaction?

It was all about control. All at my fingertips. I put two bricks together.

_Click._

I pulled them apart.

_Click._

You could do so much with these things, you know. So many things could be done, created, destroyed, what had you.

You just had to _think_. To _imagine_.

Kinda like biopathy.

So much potential in so little.

This brought a smile to my face.

"Dawn? You there?" I snapped out of my Lego trance. I looked at Sylvia, and nodded.

"I'm just fine, Slyvia. I can stay for about another half hour. Your Shoggoths are really quite interesting. You've done a great job." I smiled. "Say, would you have any of these Legos you could spare? It's...just an idea of mine."

* * *

Dreamscape

5/30/2017- 10:47 AM

Normally, standing in front of an Ethereal would've made me feel much more scared. But my mind was consumed by quite different thoughts. Kunio was, well, not very good. He had to rest, and his encounter with the Overmind was, from what I heard, really fucking bad. Carreria had a brief funeral for the fallen Borelian, and she'd brought her mate with her. Nice guy. Didn't get a chance to talk to him, though.

But still...that old man nearly killed my friend, and damn near an entire XCOM squad.

He'd pay. Though probably not by my hand. I wasn't ready.

But one day I would be. And that day would come.

Wasn't all bad news, though. We had kicked some serious alien ass all across the board. Sierra had absolutely wrecked the aliens in Jakarta, and seeing the Firestorms in action was like something out of a movie. She'd gone full Gundam on their asses, and I wasn't complaining.

We'd apparently hit a Sectoid shipyard too, incurring massive damage to the Collective's spacefaring capabilities. Caused a lot of damage, it would seem, though I didn't have access to the actual details. The mental image of Patricia throwing a tantrum when she'd hear the news made me smirk.

_Awww, did somebody lose a shipyard? Whatcha gonna do, cry like a baby and go on another rampage, making the Collective look even more evil? Really selling its benefits there, aren't you? Should've stayed with us. But, this is what you get for selling us out so you and your Avatar friends can get their knees dirty for the Imperator._

_Morons. All of them._

_I wonder what the Battlemaster thinks of all this. He seems to be the only guy in the Collective with his head on straight._

But what stood out the most to me was the burning of the Haramolian forests on Vitakar. Granted, the Nulorian were mostly to blame, but we did give them some support and killed a few Bladedancers and politicians. I felt kind of bad for them, honestly. Out of all the Vitakara, they really hadn't _done_ that much in this war. Well, that crazy Speaker motherfucker is one, but he was an...exception. They were mainly medics, and besides their Bladedancers, weren't as good of fighters as we are. Kind of like literal tree huggers.

But this is war, I guess. You gotta do what you gotta do. Though there was a part of me that didn't like that.

"Dawn?"

"I'm here, Aegis. Just thinking."

"About?"

"Everything."

"Do you wish to do this another time?"

I held up a hand. "Aegis, you're good. And you had to delay this until now because of more important things. I'm fine. Besides," I smirked. "How could I say no to training with an Ethereal?"

"Very well. Now…" He walked closer to me, towering over me. "I did not expect the first Biopath of your kind to be as young as you are, but you have shown an aptitude for your talents and displayed maturity."

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot. I figured I could do a lot of good here with what I can do, and I figured that I'd have some very experienced and seasoned people to train me."

"An understandable motivation. You have improved your biopathic talents since arriving?"

"I've narrowed it down another minute and a half since I got here," I explained. "Geist has been keeping track. I'm still getting used to seeing people melt, or at least parts of them."

"You will learn," Aegis said. "In time, of course. I did not become who I am today overnight. It will take time, courage, focus, and much resilience on your part to succeed, of which I will become a part of. You will be working with me, and more soldiers, in here soon. Now, may I ask you to do something for me?"

"Yes?"

"I would request to look inside your mind. Biopathy intrigues me, and I would like to see how you perform yourself while you do so. It will help me understand your perception and view, and help me formulate a regimen and plans."

He noticed my surprised expression. "I will not look at any of your private moments. I am skilled at doing this."

I gulped, and nodded. "Sure thing. Go ahead."

"Prepare." Aegis did not move, or give any other physical indication he was starting. But I definitely felt the overpowering mind touch my own.

_E.T Phone Hoooome….._

Memories and moments flashed by in an instant. I couldn't see clearly, but I could make out what he was doing. Searching, looking for my 'melting moments'. I wasn't in control, but I could certainly sit back and watch like in a movie theater. It was surreal, watching your life go by so quick.

Ah, he found something. Wait. Wait…

_Oh fuck. Oh no._

_He saw it._

There was a brief pause. I could almost hear him breathing. Then, it continued. The memories stopped occasionally, Aegis watching happen again and again, all while mentally taking notes. After another minute, it stopped, and he removed his finger, glowing with energy as I blinked my eyes. I felt mentally fine, like nothing had happened.

"You get what you need?"

"Yes." He said. "You are a unique case, which is why I am interested in training you." He paused. "You are aware you are not the only one?"

"Only...biopath? Yeah, I know about the Twins-"

"Good." He let out what seemed like a slight sigh. "There may come a time where you will have to fight one or the other. Their biopathy is beyond you. You may never be able to become as skilled or powerful as them - but you can become skilled enough to hold your own."

He paused briefly. "Sana is less dangerous, but Mortis, he would kill you in an instant. However, there is a very low chance of that ever happening. But, you must learn to _extend_ your power beyond what it currently is. Melting simply _one_ target is not good. You must learn to expand, take on many minds in an instant. Because we know you have the potential to do more. You must learn to _focus_ your power under fire, to properly _manage_ it."

He looked at me. "The point of this is that we will deploy you when we, and you, think you are emotionally and physically ready. You are our _only_ biopath, and a young one at that."

He paused. "But we shall see how you perform soon enough. How secure are your telepathic defenses?"

I remembered Geist's mental attack a while ago. I slightly shivered. Still, he'd been helping me after that, but that shit was still really unnerving. "Okay, I guess? I'm not _great_ , but I am improving."

"Noted," the Ethereal said. "As a telepath, it is inevitable that you will have to defend yourself against a telepathic attack. Your defenses must be sufficient to repel unwanted intrusions. Now, we will begin with a test. It is a simple one. Attempt to withstand my attacks off as long as you can. Understood?"

"Yes Aegis." I nodded.

"Let me know when you are ready to begin." I nodded, and began to concentrate.

_Remember what Geist taught you. Imagine a wall around your mind. Focus, concentrate and breathe._

_Breathe, Focus. Concentrate._

I felt my power coalescing around me, but I thought only of my mind and the vault I had just locked it in.

"Okay. Go when you're ready, Aegis." My voice sounded distant.

It began a moment later.

First, it was a slight twinge of pain at the back of my skull. Like someone was flicking me, over and over. No matter. I balled my hands up and closed my eyes.

_Breathe. Exhale. Inhale._

A sharp jolt went through my head. It sounded like someone scratching chalk against a board. Only that this was much slower, and much louder. Sounded almost like the chalk and board Mrs. Dobson used.

Fucking hated that class.

As the chalk continued to scrape across the board, the ringing in my head began to escalate. It was almost like a fire alarm, but it was as if the chalk and fire alarm had had a baby, and it was throwing a massive tantrum inside my head, screaming and screaming as the god-awful mixture of noises beat like a drum again and again in my head.

_Ugh…._

My legs began to buckle, feeling like jelly. I tried to maintain my balance, but the noise was incredibly off-putting. I felt like I should...kneel. Lay down and just give in. It'd all be over soon...I smiled as I thought of it…

_No! It's the telepathy! Ignore it, Focus Dawn, focus!_

I tried to take a step towards Aegis, attempting to show my defiance towards his attacks. I stopped short of him as my mind suddenly felt more constricted, as the walls around my mind began to buckle and tighten. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep the alien mind out of mine.

 _C'mon Dawn, you can do this. Don't give up now. You're better than this._ I tried to focus, trying to gather my strength to fortify what I had left protecting me. I knew this was only the start, but that wasn't going to stop me.

Then he stepped towards _me_ , and my defenses felt even weaker. I heard screams, cries, both of pain and sorrow. _Who were they? Why were they- no! Focus! He's trying to distract you, goddamnit! Think! Focus! Breathe! Concentrate! Remember what he said-_

_**BOOM.** _

A massive wave of telepathic pain shattered the walls around me like a bulldozer going through a wall at a hundred miles an hour. My head...cracked. Shattered. Lost any collection of being held together. A wave of confusion and fear overwhelmed me. I took a step back….and fell on my back, losing any sense of direction. I attempted to drag myself away from him with my hands, but I was like a turtle trying to flip itself over; no matter how hard I tried, I was simply aimless and limited.

"You-fuck! I'm-I'm gonna-agh!" I tried to think of _something_ , say _something_ , but it just didn't happen!

Was this how Kunio felt when the Overmind attacked him? Did he feel this helpless and in pain when confronted with such a power? I knew the Overmind was extremely old, and with age came experience, but I knew that Aegis sure as hell wasn't as old as _him_ , and yet here I was, falling apart thanks to Aegis' power.

How long could I possibly last against the Overmind, or even Patricia?

I had to work harder. I had to become _better_.

I opened my mouth and screamed, only no sounds came out. I was frozen, helpless, cowering before the Ethereal, his bare hands wrapped in purple energy. I had to make it stop.

_Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop._

"P...pl….pleeeee...staaaaph!" My words were slurred, not even complete. Yet it was all I could muster through the pain.

And it did stop. Aegis recalled his attack, and drew his arms under his robe, leaving me on the ground, staring at the ceiling, panting, trying to regain a sense of myself. I was limp, exhausted, trying to find enough strength to stand up. I could barely move my arms as is.

A telekinetic grip lifted my body, and leaned me against a wall. Aegis offered me a hand, which I leant on, trying to regain my balance.

"You must be better." He said.

_Oh, fuck you asshole._

"That...hurt. Oh...it...fuck me, I can't even…"

"Rest. Can you listen to my words?"

"Yes." He nodded. I slumped against the wall, staring at him. I had gotten my ass kicked and had been reduced to almost nothing.

0/10, wouldn't recommend.

"You were acceptable." Aegis said. "For a beginner. But you must become better. Against an enemy like the Overmind, or even Quisilia or Macula, they would overpower you without significant effort. You have power, Dawn, but do not rest under the delusion that you are as powerful and skilled as them. No single Human will ever match an Ethereal."

I took a heavy breath. "Then how do I get better? How do I beat you, or another Ethereal?"

"You do not."

"Sorry?"

"You will not defeat an Ethereal alone," Aegis said flatly. "I did not use all of my power to defeat you. My brethren will not be so considerate." I looked at him with a dazed stare, still recovering from the mental assault. He probably sensed my fear.

"You cannot fight and beat one _alone_." He emphasized. "You must trust that your squad can carry their weight as well as you do. And they will. You must trust them to do their part, as you will yourself."

"And after I learn how to survive one?" I asked.

"Then you will learn how to defeat one - but not alone." He answered firmly. "You will train with others here, form bonds of cooperation and unity with your fellow soldiers. But do not focus on that now, Dawn. You will get there eventually. But first you must know how to survive before you can fight." He offered me a hand, which I took, shakily standing up.

"Okay. Let's do this. But can I rest for a minute?"

"Certainly. But not for too long."

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_5/31/17- 9:30 PM_

My birthday was tomorrow.

I knew that in the grand context of everything that was going on, I shouldn't be thinking too much about it, but still. I was going to be _nineteen_. Nineteen! I was almost out of the teenage years, couldn't believe it. I was growing, physically and mentally.

I didn't know how they did birthdays in XCOM, but I didn't want to ask. Could it be a surprise party of some sort? Wouldn't be a huge one, hopefully. I was more of a small party person. I wasn't an introvert, but I wasn't entirely an extrovert, either. I'd gone to my fair share of parties before coming here. I'd mingle, talk, drink, what have you, shit like that. Wouldn't consider myself a 'partier', but I could have fun. Then again, if there wasn't a party, I wouldn't really care that much, either.

Regardless, it wouldn't be the same without my parents or sister around, though.

"You look excited." Lian said as I yanked the floss out of my teeth before disposing it. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I now?"

"I guess so. It _is_ my birthday tomorrow."

She paused. "Oh, right! You're going to be nineteen, right! Wonderful." She smiled. "That's good. You should be happy, yeah?"

"I guess." I looked down. "Won't be the same with my family around."

"Hey." She put a hand on my shoulder. "You've got us. We're your family. Don't ever be afraid to talk to us. That's what friends are for."

I shook my head. "I know Lian, thank you. It's, well, it's just that, do I act _too_ juvenile or unprofessional around you guys? I mean, I just feel like the odd one out sometimes, y'know?"

She nodded. "I can understand how you'd feel that way. You're younger than all of us, and you don't have much military experience."

I looked at her. "Can you be honest with me for a minute?"

"Sure."

I sighed. "Do you think…" I couldn't find the right words. "Do you think that I should really be here? Do you think it's right for me to be here, learning all this shit, shooting guns, doing all these sims?"

"Are you asking if I think you belong?"

"Yes."

"You chose to come here, yes?" I nodded.

"As a friend, Dawn, if you want me to be honest - whoever truly decides that is up to you. When I first joined up with the PLA, I was a young girl just like you. Confused, scared, and worried that I wouldn't do as well as the other recruits."

"Then why did you join?"

"Because I was a patriot," she answered. "I was, admittedly, slightly naive about the truth of the Communist Party, but what really drove me was...pure. I believed it. I still believe it. I saw the best way to serve those ideas was to join. And I did. I was a good soldier, and I did what I was told. Then ADVENT and the invasion happened. People started to ask questions about loyalty, country, what have you. I heard rumors of people defecting. Not me, I don't run like that, but then..." Her look turned dark.

"Beijing?" I said quietly.

"Yeah. I don't want to talk about it. It was...not good." She shook her head. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'm going to sleep soon. But in answer to your question Dawn, I think you're a good person, and you want to learn. Get better. But ultimately, the only person who's really going to tell you that is yourself. Night."

As she walked out of the bathroom, leaving me alone, I stared at the mirror, looking at the new and improved me. The old me looked like a string bean compared to who I was now. Hell, I probably could rip the old me's head off without much effort if I wanted to.

But for all the augs did, it was the person that had them that mattered. The one that used them.

I had been given a gift. An opportunity.

One I couldn't waste, and I wouldn't.

To be continued in Chapter 5:

**Letting Loose**


	6. Letting Loose

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_6/1/17- 6:30 AM_

I woke up that morning unusually happy. Totally not because it was my birthday that day.

Each day since I'd started serving in XCOM, I'd woken up somewhat worried or stressed, due to the fear of new developments in the war or whatever mindfuckery T'Leth had cooked up for us puny humans. But as I'd been there longer and longer, I'd begun to feel more at home. It'd been somewhat difficult for me to integrate into the military environment, as the nature of all of it had been much more intensive and serious then the PRIESTs.

But, knowing my fellow soldiers, they helped me get into the flow. I'd gotten more comfortable being around these women. They'd let me shower first before them, taught me ways to manage my somewhat limited personal space, and in general used their previous military experiences to help me fit in.

I wouldn't say that they were taking pity on a kid, they were genuinely being helpful.

Don't know where I'd be without them, to be honest.

I followed my regular morning routine of navigating the small army of trained killers to shower, dress, manage my hygiene, and what have you, I got many 'Happy Birthdays' here and there. It wasn't a gift, but you know what? I really didn't need any. Being at XCOM alone at this point in my life was pretty much the biggest gift I'd ever been given.

As I chowed down on a larger-than-life cinnamon roll, my portal-making friend sat down besides me. I hadn't seen him for a day or two, probably had been busy. I'd heard that Fiona had been recovering from her fight with Queen Bitch, so it sounded like he'd be having to teach himself for now. Privately, part of me had wondered if they…

"I heard it was your birthday, Dawn! Is that true?"

"Oh!" He startled me. "Um, yes it is! I'm officially nineteen! Well, I _really_ turn nineteen at 11:30 today, but still!"

"Congratulations!" He patted me on the back.

"Thanks." I blushed. "It's uh...well, I feel really happy about it. I'd normally be celebrating with my family, but they're not here. So, yeah." My shoulders slumped at the image of my parents at home, lonely, with both of their children in XCOM. If anything, they could take solace that Grace would never have to fight.

The morbidity of that thought really hurt.

"Hey. It'll be okay. You've got us here, Dawn."

"I know," I said quietly. "But it's the first birthday I've spent away from home, and well, I've told you about how my parents feel about this whole thing."

He gave me a sympathetic look. "Is there any way you could call them or they could call you?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "They probably will today at some point. I'll probably visit Grace in my free time today, if there is any. But, training is training, I guess." As I dug more into the roll, I felt a little sore. About rejecting my parents, my old life, and everything.

What would my party have been like? No invasion, no XCOM...nothing. All of my girlfriends having one last hoorah before heading off to college, the military, or whatever life had in store for us? What kind of presents would I have gotten? Money? New clothes? Maybe even a car?

Well, I could use a part of my paycheck to buy a car. Not that I _would right now_ (obviously), but if I survived this war, I sure as hell could probably buy shit I definitely wouldn't have been able to given the size of my paychecks right now. No, I wasn't planning on buying a mansion or something like that. Maybe a nice car or something. I'd decide later.

My phone buzzed, which was from, right in the nick of time, from my parents.

 _Hey baby! Happy 19th birthday!_ A birthday cake with confetti emoji accompanied the words. I continued reading.

_Although we may not agree on some things, we still love the both of you. Stay safe._

_Dad & Mom_

I stared at the screen blankly.

"Dawn?" Kunio asked, but I didn't pay attention to his words.

"I need to go." My voice cracked, a tear slipping from my eye as I picked up my tray, and headed off to see Grace.

* * *

_Praesidium, Family Reserve Section_

_Grace's Quarters_

"Dawn! Holy shit!" Sister and sister embraced one another for the first time since I'd joined up. She didn't seem that surprised by my augmentations.

"You're...bigger then I remember, sis!" She laughed, indicating my clearly enlarged muscles and body structure.

"Yeah, like my new makeover?" We both laughed, though in reality I was laughing more to cover up the pain I was feeling. But we'd known each other for a long time - all the way back to the womb, in fact.

"I do! I really do! I mean, no offense, but those yellow eyes look really cool on you! Your skin, too! It's unique!" She was being positively enthusiastic. A trait I'd come to know her well for over the course of my life. Sometimes, when I'd have a bad day, we'd just sit on her bed and talk. Laugh. For only a moment, not give a single fuck about the world and everyone in it and just be us. Sisters.

Would we ever be able to have those moments again?

"Yeah. It's definitely new. But happy birthday to you too, sis. It's just as much your birthday as it's mine." I gave her another hug.

"Fuck, you're strong. Jeez. Anyway, so how're you feeling?"

"I'm doing pretty well." Again, trying to hide it in front of her. Put on a happy face, damnit. "The people are really nice. Aegis is, too."

"That's great! The people here are nice, too. I can't really get a job because of my age, so I've been helping the care people take care of some of the younger kids. There are other teenagers too, I've been hanging out with them, they're nice." I smiled.

At least Grace didn't feel so, well out of place as I do.

"That's wonderful, sis. How's your birthday been so far?" She asked.

"A few wishes here and there. And from Mom and Dad." She nodded. There was a distant expression on her face.

"Let me guess. Short but sweet, yet also saying that they didn't agree with your choices?" Grace inquired.

"Yep."

"I'm sorry Dawn. I know you must feel so many things right now with all this shit." She gestured to the room around us.

"I'm adjusting." I said in a confident tone. Yet she could tell, and she wasn't even a psion. She took my hand, staring me right in the eyes.

"What's wrong, sis?" I try to hold back a tear. "Is it mom and dad?" I nodded. My grip on her hand tightened. I gulped.

"It's just-I want this. I just wanted to go in here and do - _learn_ all of this shit. Become better. Help people. Kill some fucking aliens. And they don't...they don't _get it_ , Grace. They. Just. Don't. _Fucking. Get._ _ **IT!**_ " All the anger, the sadness, I'd been holding in that day, just came out. Grace yelped as my eyes glowed a furious purple, scooting away from me.

"Dawn!" I paused in my fit of anger, looking at my sister, on the other side of the bed, staring at me with a look of pure fear. I looked down at myself. The air around me was heavily distorted with a clear purple tinge, the source of an engine of fear and anger.

"Grace…" I weakly said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to- I didn't want to scare-"

Then I cried. I sat back down on that bed and just bawled. I felt her embrace me as the tears flowed down my cheeks, and onto my shirt. My face was red, my cheeks were wet, and my head was in my hands.

It just came out.

And she just held me.

* * *

I would be lying if I said I was feeling 100 percent better that day. But after the crying session, I felt a little bit better. Geist, Carreria, and Aegis all wished me a happy birthday in some form, and I was grateful. Yet it felt like something was missing.

After dinner, I headed back to my bunk, ready to write another entry in my personal record. Geist had suggested the idea to me as a way of putting my thoughts onto paper. Surprise suprise, I kind of enjoyed it. I wasn't that great of a writer, but it was enjoyable.

When I got to the room, I noticed that the lights were off. _What?_ Was there some kind of lighting problem or something? Odd. I shook my head, and walked in, fumbling for the light switch.

"Surprise!" The lights came on, revealing my squadmates, hiding behind the bunks and tables.

"Oh shit!" I jumped back in surprise. "I-what's going on?"

"It's your birthday, isn't it?" laughed Cassandra, with her Mexican accent.

"I-I mean, yeah, I guess-"

"Your sister baked you a cake behind your back, so here!" Two soldiers brought forward a chocolate cake, with the words _Happy nineteenth, Dawn!_ in red frosting. I gasped, putting my hands over my mouth. "Ohmygod! You guys! That's so sweet of you! I don't know what to say right now!"

"You don't have to say anything, Dawn. It's your birthday. Sit back and relax a little," Lian said. A chair was pulled up, I sat down, and an Aegii barrier, probably from Chisa, sliced a piece, which I took. I took a bite.

It was delicious.

"How is it?"

"Vilhelmina, it's amazing. All of this, it's wonderful. Thank you guys so much. I love you guys!"

"One more year, and you won't be a teenager anymore! You'll be an adult, just like us!"

Just like them...all grown up. But I didn't think about it then. All I thought about was living in the moment, enjoying what was in front of me.

* * *

_Research and Demonstration Room 4_

_6/2/17- 11:32 AM_

Caelior held a basketball in his hands, which he was easily able to palm, aiming it for the hoop all the way across the room. He took aim, and shot.

Boom. A three-pointer.

"Not bad, Caelior."

"Thank you." He recalled the ball to him before passing it to me. "This 'sport' is very enjoyable. You humans seem to have a lot of ways of passing the time. Many are enjoyable."

"Oh yeah, we most certainly do," I nodded. "I don't have a lot of experience in this myself, actually. I wasn't on the school team or anything. But it's enjoyable, and when I got the notice, I couldn't say no. Sure, I'm a soldier now, but that doesn't mean that I can't have a little fun."

"School team?" Ah, that's right. I'm sure that Ethereal high school (if they even had an equivalent like ours) was quite different.

"Ah. Where I come from, sports like this are very important," I explained. "They're seen as a popular pastime, but also as a way to have fun and get some exercise. My high school had a basketball team, a soccer team, a football team, and a bowling team."

"I am not familiar with many of those terms. 'Bowling'?"

I chuckled. "It's basically a game where you have these big, heavy balls. You have to roll them down a lane and into a line of pins. If you can time and land your roll right, you can knock over all of the pins. Basically, whoever knocks down the most pins and earns the most points wins." If this was the Dreamscape, I could've easily visualized it for him. But oh well.

"A precision game then? I enjoyed such exercises. In a way it sounds like the earliest telekinetic exercises." He shot off another hoop, this time hitting the backboard. He slightly grunted, retrieving the ball again with a pull. "One reason I find myself enjoying this particular activity."

"Cool. I'm not much of a sports person, but I dabbled in them occasionally. It's a good way to relieve stress and have fun." A thought occurred to me. "Did you, ah, have anything like a sport in the Empire?"

"Many of our psionic exercises seem to resemble your 'sports, but the closest equivalent in terms of purpose is closer to a... competition. Every year, Ethereals from across the Empire would gather on the homeworld to do great feats with their powers and perform in various competitions of psionic skill.

"So…a psionic Olympics?"

"A what?"

"It's sort of...well, a worldwide sporting competition. The best from around the world compete in one place. It's a big deal."

"Ah. In which case, that sounds like an apt description."

"Sounds fun," I nodded. "Y'know, some days after I was first awakened, I'd wished I was a telekine. I was always jealous of how they could lift and crush things just like that."

"But you are not anymore?" He passed the ball to me, where I shot again. Barely missed. Damn.

"No," I answered. "I've been comfortable with my abilities for a long time now. Priest training really helped. Now that I'm here, and the first human to do biopathy, it's...a little different."

"Why?" He seemed curious. I could pick up more emotion in his voice than Aegis', oddly enough.

"How do I explain this? Well, first off, realizing just how powerful I was kind of gave me a rude awakening. I didn't even know people could score that high, honestly," I shrugged. "When I walked into the PRIEST facility that day, I was split. Half of me wanted to test positive, the other half didn't. The psych test went by okay, but I was really nervous throughout the whole thing. I was afraid I'd fail, or I'd think of something really fucked up accidentally."

I chuckled. "I still remember the look on the nurses' face when he saw my test result. His eyes were wide open, like he'd seen a ghost. Then...then the main guy came in, gave me the laydown of how I was a fucking _telepath_ , and one of the strongest ones ever awakened in humanity's history. Even more powerful than goddamn _Patricia Trask_."

I looked at Caelior, and instantly realized my mistake. "Ohmygod, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

He lifted a purple hand. "You are fine."

Whew.

"But yeah, I would be lying if I said it wasn't overwhelming. I thought about it, and said yes. One thing led to another, and I'm here in XCOM."

"And you are doing well?"

"Yeah. I guess you could say that. My sister's here. We're twins."

"Twins?" Caelior seemed more interested all of a sudden.

"Well, she's not psionic. I'm sorry, but refresh my memory. Twins were really rare in your Empire, right?"

"Very rare. Only four pairs of twins were ever born. I sometimes forget that this is not typical in other species."

My eyes went wide. " _Four?_ Out of how many years of the Empire? Thousands of years? Tens of thousands?"

"The latter, yes," he answered. "Sana and Mortis were the last ones born. Each pair of twins born were...special in some way. Sometimes intellectually, sometimes psionically. Sana and Mortis effectively pioneered the field of biopathy for the Empire."

"Doesn't the Imperator have biopathy too, though?"

"Yes, but I have never seen him use it personally," Caelior said. "I suspect Patricia now also possesses the skill, though both Twins are more skilled than the both of them."

"Did you know Sana or Mortis personally?"

"I have never met Mortis. Sana…" he briefly paused. "Yes. Better than most of my brethren. She is kind. Not just to me, but everyone. Isomnum and the Creator are perhaps the only exceptions. She would not be pleased that you are fighting in this war, though she does not approve of war altogether."

"So Mortis used to be...like a zombie? But he's apparently _just fine_ now? How the hell does that work?"

"You are implying that he was dead?" He cocked his head. "Mortis was injured, but placed in stasis. He was very much alive, though I do not know the full extent of his injuries. It is not out of the question that he simply healed over time."

"Huh. He seems...oddly human in a lot of his beliefs and views. Not like most Ethereals. His mindset is so similar to your 'typical rebellious teenager' trope that it's not even funny." I shot again. Right through the hoop. "It's almost creepy how alike it is."

"He is unique. Ironically more aware than I was of the nature of the Empire."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "But I have...had my eyes opened since Korea, to borrow a term you may be familiar with. I hope I have matured beyond what I was. A willing tool of the Empire, incapable of reflection or critical thinking. Defeat taught me more than all of my time in war. A lesson you fortunately appear not to need."

I nodded, recalling his file. Caelior back then, in a way, was like me - a young prodigy. Only that I was a telepath and he was a telekine, and that XCOM definitely did not trick or use me in the way the Ethereals did.

Was there _one_ thing the Ethereals could touch that they wouldn't inevitably fuck up? Looking back, I kind of felt bad for Caelior. He was a _kid_ , taken from his home when he was definitely not ready to fight, and his whole life and all of his 'achievements' were a manufactured lie.

How do you even _recover_ from something like that? If that'd happened to me, I doubt I'd even be able to handle living from day to day.

"I'm sorry that that happened to you. It must've been really hard, adjusting to who you really were."

"It was difficult, but necessary," he nodded. "But you humans have been very helpful to me, as has Aegis, despite my previous actions against your species." His voice got a little quiet when he said that.

I admittedly didn't know how to respond to that. He'd been through so much compared to me. I'd been in XCOM for like a month and in real life had only killed a few people. Not even _people_ , just Sectoid drones. He on the other hand had fought the freaking _Synthesized_ , which I didn't even want to imagine what horrors those things had in store.

Best not to think about that now.

"Well, um, how do I say this," I thought for a second. "Humans are compassionate people. We're very understanding, and willing to forgive. In my opinion, the reason the Commander and Aegis kept Patricia from killing you was because you were young, and had a lot to learn. Besides, you're really powerful - there's no one else that we have here that can do telekinesis like you can."

"And I am grateful for your people treating me as such. But what about you, Dawn? Why are you here?"

"Well, my biopathy."

"I did not phrase that correctly. I meant your personal stake in this conflict."

I paused, staring at my hands. "To do my part. When I joined the Priests, I thought I could use whatever psionics I hopefully had to help in the fight against the Collective. But when I accidentally melted that Sectoid, I realized that I was different. And when I learned what exactly I _did_ , well there was no doubt about it. I felt like I could do the most in XCOM, even though I was only eighteen."

Caelior nodded. "I can understand such. Even had I not been used by the Empire, I would have sought to join the fight against the Synthesized."

"I guess for me it's more of a responsibility thing, too," I admitted. "It just wouldn't feel right for me to say no and stay in the Priests. There's so much more opportunity for me here. The armor, the psionics, the intel, even the guns. And I didn't even really like guns that much before coming here. And with XCOM, I can do so much more than what the Priests do. I can go on missions off-world, hit 'em where it hurts, if you know what I'm saying. Plus - T'Leth. You really can't beat the Dreamscape and what it can simulate."

"You seem to have a lot of this thought out."

I snorted. "Honestly? Not really. I saw an opportunity, and took it. What happens next depends on where this war goes. I'll train the best I can, and when I'm eventually deployed, I'll see how well I do. For now?" I tossed him the ball. "Basketball. Keep our minds on something more fun."

"Very well. Let us see who is better at this."

"Don't make me blush, Caelior." I snorted, hitting the backboard again. "Now, you ready to beat old man Aegis on the court?"

* * *

_Project Nolan Training Center_

_6/3/17- 11:01 PM_

"I'm telling you Geist, I think I'm onto something here!"

He simply raised an eyebrow at the two plastic bricks in my hand, courtesy of the Shoggoths.

"Explain, then."

"Okay, so let me explain. Remember when you were talking about the Sussan woman, that Armenian woman who did whatsit with graphs?"

"Yes."

I nodded. "And you told me she visualized her psionics like on a 3D plane, correct?"

"Yes."

"So she made her psionics easier by associating that thought process with something she was familiar with. Experienced with."

"She did."

I held up a finger. "So, Lego bricks, right?" I held up two, one in each hand. "I'm _very_ familiar with these. Played with these things a shit-ton, even did some minor competitions. Now…" I click them together. "You can put them together to create something, right? Like a cell." I snapped two together.

Geist nodded.

"But you see, you can also take them apart."

 _Snap_!

"Now, here's my point. These things, in a way, are like cells. If I can associate them in my mind, visualize it like a cell, maybe that'll help with my psionic skill. Because that's what I do, I tell the cells to come apart, and _boom!_ Biopathy. Now I'm not saying it'll just make me insta-melt everything, no no. That's definitely not possible. All I'm saying is that this could potentially help me with my focus and visualization of my psionics."

He thought for a moment before replying. "The concept is sound. Well done. Test this for yourself, but do not be disappointed if it does not work as you hope."

"Okay. Let's see." I sat down on the floor, cross-legged. It was a sitting form I learned to prefer while training - like meditation, kinda.

"Muton." I said. A Muton in full battle armor spawns in front of me. I closed my eyes, and focused, penetrating his mind. Geist and I had been slowly whittling my biopathy down minute by minute since I'd gotten here, and now it took me on average around ten minutes to begin melting.

A time, that in my opinion, still wasn't good enough.

I entered its mind the same way I'd done it many times before, slowly penetrating the mind of the alien.

_Go deeper. Focus. Concentrate. Find the labyrinth, cross it, and tell it to fall apart. Just like you've been practicing._

_Where is it...ah...there you are._

_Now you are mine._

I felt myself penetrate the upper and middle layers, and heading down into the lower depths, where I truly excelled. I may not have been ready for combat, but little by little, I was getting there.

_Focus. Find it. Deeper. Go deeper._

_Ah, there it is. The layer._

_Alrighty then. Time to visualize, see how this goes._

While keeping the primeval cellular layer in my mind, I pictured a group of the bricks I was so familiar with, and quite literally had built a portion of my life on.

_Bricks...classic, of course. 2-by-4. How about….red? Ok, now…think._

I imagined a group of bricks, making up a Muton like the one in front of me, building him up one-by-one. Keeping my concentration, I imagined the bonds, constricting around the bricks, keeping the creature whole and in one piece. That's what cells were for after all- making what's us us.

But now, it was time to break that.

_Bonds, bricks...all together. As one. Now…_

_**Separate.** _

Compared to my first time, the bonds were much less resistant to my demands. I imagined the structure of bricks falling apart, and the feeling of being in a slurry hit my mind. But I was not the Dawn Conley that had done this for the first time.

This Dawn was much different. Better trained. More prepared. And more experienced.

As I felt the structure around me break, I opened my eyes to see the Muton melt. Not all of it, mind you. Its lower body was intact, mind you. But its head and neck… not so much.

As I'd progressed with Geist, I had somewhat expanded on my ability to widen my melting capabilities. We both knew I'd never be as good as Mortis, but that didn't mean I shouldn't try. I definitely wouldn't be able to melt in the hundreds like my Ethereal counterpart, but current estimates were that I could perhaps, with enough training and guidance, have the capability to melt perhaps several squads of enemies at best.

See, the issue with this isn't the scale - it's the focus. Telling one's cells alone to separate is strenuous enough. Doing that to an entire army on my level? Hell no, my brain and mind certainly wouldn't be able to focus on that much of a level. But melt the important parts of several targets? Definitely possible. But that was beyond me for now.

Getting used to watching things melt was another thing entirely. The first few times I'd done it in the Priests, I'd gotten sick to my stomach, not to mention the nightmares. When I'd joined XCOM, Geist had been putting me through what I called 'normalization therapy', which essentially boiled down to me getting used to the sight and feeling of melting itself through watching it again and again. Definitely to condition me on seeing it as more _normal_ , which had been working.

_One topic at a time, Dawn. Don't overthink yourself right now. Focus on the toy that you somehow have now associated with death through cellular liquefaction._

"Interesting," Geist said.

"See? It worked!" I said.

"I know. I was observing your mind, Dawn. Your concept was sound and you applied it correctly."

"I'll admit. I was actually not entirely expecting for that to work. But, it looks like it works. For now. I've still got to narrow down my time. Ten minutes is far too slow."

"Which will require more training. But this is a substantial improvement for now, Dawn. Good job."

I nodded. Though Geist could sound like a major ass sometimes, he was at least straightforward, and committed to helping me.

"Thanks. Hey, you've heard about that game coming up? Between Aegis and Caelior?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to come? I'm going to be on Caelior's team. I'm pretty excited. We've been practicing a lot for it."

"No," He shook his head. "I did not usually participate in such. I also find that sports, while a good method of exercise, are something that people become obsessive over."

That pretty much made it clear he wasn't interested.

"I see." I said. "Well, thanks for being honest, Geist."

He waved a hand. "Nevertheless Dawn, you have been progressing well. Although you are not battle-level ready yet, you are getting there. Bronis and the Internal Council have been pleased." I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, the Internal Council?"

He nodded. "You are our only biopath, which means that you have been monitored by our Psionics Division and members of XCOM Research and Development. As your primary teacher, it is my job to monitor and report your progress. It is also the first time we have ever recruited a soldier of your age. Were it to happen again in the future, we would have your experience to make sure he or she would progress as well as you have."

I laughed. "So I'm like a guinea pig?"

"Yes, but in your case it was inevitable."

Well, that was something. I suppose I could understand the logic behind that. If I fared well, and didn't die or collapse under the pressure, they'd have a 'how to introduce teenagers to XCOM' manual prepped and ready to go if anyone else like me found themselves in my situation in the future.

I'd be setting an example then. I smiled, and kept going with my training. The big game was in four days. I couldn't wait.

If nothing else, it'd be a wholly unique experience.

* * *

_Psionics Training Range_

_6/4/17- 10:08 AM_

Game time.

Sets of impromptu bleachers had been set up along the edge of the area, as well as two hoops, one on each side. Various soldiers and staff made up the teams, but mostly just staff, as I'd noticed from their uniforms. Each team was dressed in their regular dress, with a jersey on top.

Blue for Aegis.

Purple for Caelior.

I'll admit, it was funny to see two Ethereal wear _jerseys_ of all things. They were modified for the physiology of course, taking into account the additional arms and larger body size. Both were wearing their helmets, and stood out from the rest of the human team members. There were five people on each team in total, with an additional reserve of five more on the bench.

Although the game was casual and in no way hard-core competitive, there were still rules. First off, only limited psionics allowed. You couldn't use it offensively or defensively, as that would more than likely end up with someone getting hurt. You couldn't manipulate the ball into the hoop either. Using it to control the ball or perform some _unique_ passess was allowed. Still, some medics were on standby, just in case.

But I had faith that our two resident Ethereals wouldn't get caught up in the fun.

After that, we'd still be following the regular rules of basketball - no double-dribbling, no aggressive physical contact, and no matter how tall you were, human or Ethereal, you could still be blocked. Genetic modification was very useful here.

Caelior was going to be our center, as he was the 'big guy', so to speak. The rest of us would be guards and forwards, passing and defending as such, but we all knew that the Ethereals would be the stars of the show.

The whistle blew, and we assembled. After a coin flip, Aegis' team got the ball first. I noticed Kunio was on the other team, who gave me a wink and a shit-eating grin. Bronis was on Aegis' team as well.

_You wanna play, portal boy? Alrighty then, let's play._

Alright Dawn, let's play some Ethereal basketball.

The whistle blew again, and the game began.

Caelior dashed forward towards Aegis, who was holding the ball, blocking him. Aegis tossed the ball to Kunio, who ran around me, passing it to another Aegis team member. He shot for the goal, but hit the backboard and missed completely. The whistle blew, and the ball was passed to us.

Caelior and our team responded in kind. I ran around the opposing team, catching Caelior's pass. Kunio was onto me almost instantly, blocking me. I stopped dribbling, and did a Hail Mary, shooting the ball over his head to a fellow teammate, who caught it, and threw it to Caelior. He took aim, and fired, shooting the ball right through the net.

The crowd cheered. I smiled, and nodded at Caelior, giving him a thumbs-up. _Good job, buddy._ He nodded at me, and we prepared for the next round. 1-0 so far. I saw Kunio looking at me, giving me a friendly nod and a wink.

The next round went faster. Aegis and Caelior were again the stars of the show, trading blocks as the former tried to get the ball past the younger Ethereal. But Caelior seemed pretty invested. He was putting a lot of energy and enthusiasm into this, I could tell. He seemed almost- well, happy.

Aegis got past him, and shot at Bronis, who caught it, and made a move towards the goal, aiming for a teammate. I watched as he moved his hands to pass the ball, and saw an opportunity. I waited until he aimed, and I jumped.

The ball flew right into my hands, and my feet hit the ground.

"Steal!" someone yelled from the crowd. I began to dribble the ball, trying to find a lane to pass. Most of Aegis' team was closing in on me, blocking more and more ways I could pass. Oh, I was screwed.

 _Shit, shit, shit. C'mon, Dawn. There's gotta be a way out of this._ I look around. The rest of my team can't reach me, and Caelior and Aegis are occupied.

_Ah shit. Well, fuck it._

"Caelior!" I yelled. He looked at me, and moved away from Aegis.

All the time that I needed. I threw the ball at him with an overhead pass, and waited until the rest of Aegis' team was occupied with Caelior. I dashed ahead of him, looking for an opening. He shot it towards me, and I caught it, aimed, and fired.

Boom.

Right into the hoop.

 _And that's a basket, baby!_ I smirked as the other team grabbed the ball, doing the switch.

As the next attempt to get a goal went by, I felt a rush.

_This is fun._

For a second, I didn't feel like I had to worry about the war, the Ethereals, the Bringer, or anyone else.

It was just me, the court, and the ball.

I was behind Caelior, who was, again, leading a mad dash for the opposing hoop, Aegis close behind us. I could faintly feel Aegis' aura in the back of my mind. Lucky for us, he was keeping it under control. His aura could've provided an additional advantage to his team, one of the many things curtailed in the rules. I'd wondered how _that_ meeting had gone with the Internal Council.

" _We need something to boost our soldiers' morale!" Said the Commander._

" _Hmmmm. Maybe some kind of game? How about a video-game competition?" Said Vahlen._

" _What about that basket-ball you humans seem to love so much?" Said Aegis._

" _That's a great idea! But this is XCOM, not the NBA, so we need to make this fun, unique and memorable for everyone involved. Any ideas?" Said the Commander._

" _How about we throw in our Ethereals just to mix things up?" Said Mercado._

" _I approve." Aegis interjected. "Going up against Caelior in such a situation will be amusing, if not enjoyable."_

" _Sounds like an excellent idea! But Ethereals are pretty much better than humans in every way, so we need a way to balance things out so any interested XCOM personnel don't get absolutely curbstomped. Hmmm. How about_ _limited_ _psionics for_ _everyone_ _, to make things more fair and balanced?"_

_Aegis: Sad Face_

_And so it was decided that day, much to the disappointment of Aegis, that there would be such a game._

Aside from that, my augmented body was absolutely _loving_ this. The fast-paced nature of this game was an excellent test in real life for my new and improved body. My school's football team wouldn't stand a chance against me. The rush was energizing, like my adrenaline had turned all the way up to an 11. Going up against other augmented personnel like me was fun as well, as the only real physical training I'd had with other soldiers was weight lifting, treadmill running, or some other kind of gym activity.

I also wondered how much Aegis and Caelior were holding back physically in this case. I'd seen them both in combat, and from the files, Ethereal physical prowess compared to humans made us look utterly minute compared to them. I wouldn't doubt that if they wanted to, they could move faster than we could react, and do this whole game themselves.

Kinda made me glad the Battlemaster wasn't on the other team. He could probably make a joke out of all of us without even trying.

This was such a rush, and I was loving every second. I wasn't even that _good_.

 _But_ _this was so much fun!_

* * *

The game was drawing to a close. It had been a sports slugfest between our team and Aegis', with each team constantly shifting between winning and losing. I think only Aegis and Caelior weren't almost worn out at this point, while the humans on both teams were very clearly getting tired. Aegis and Caelior, meanwhile, had been engaged in a game of Ethereal one-upmanship, both hitting some seriously unreal slam dunks and cross-court shots.

Aegis shot another basket into the hoop, getting a one-point lead over us. Caelior got his hands on it and shot it to one of my teammates, who shot it to me. I dribbled it down the court, getting to a point where I could hopefully score a basket. As I prepared to throw it to Caelior, Aegis got in front of me, his towering form blocking my shot.

 _Well fuck me sideways._ I kept trying to move left and right, dribbling and looking for an opening. Caelior was behind him, but at this point the enemy team was swarming me. Sooner or later I'd have to shoot.

_Fuck it._

I did an overhead pass, throwing the ball over Aegis' left arm. Caelior grabbed it in midair and got it right into the hoop, tying both teams.

 _Not bad._ I heard in my head, as the older Ethereal passed me as the ball was changed. Heh. _Try harder next time old man._

I looked at the timer. Shit. We only had thirty seconds left before the game was up...

Tiebreaker time, then. Looks like the stakes just got raised, baby!

I cracked my neck muscles. As the timer started again, things went into action real fast. Caelior passed the ball to a teammate, while two of us blocked Aegis for the moment. I took the far right side of the court, making myself open for a possible pass. Kunio was trailing me, probably to try to block me from a pass. I ran faster, trying to stay open.

_Twenty seconds._

Caelior moved past Aegis, dribbling as he lined up his shot.

_Fifteen seconds._

Aegis got into front of him, blocking his shot.

_Ten seconds._

Caelior noticed me, and threw.

_Nine seconds._

I caught it, the ball almost slipping through my fingers. He nodded.

_Eight seconds._

I ran towards the hoop, preparing to jump.

_Seven seconds._

I leaped towards the hoop, hands outstretched, ball in hand.

_Six seconds._

So close. Almost there…

_Five seconds._

I let go of the ball, slamming it into the hoop. I didn't hear the cheering, just focused on me. I landed on the ground feet-first, thanks to my reflexes. Pre-XCOM me would've fallen and hit my shins. Ow.

The timer buzzed, signaling the end of the game.

 _Holy mother of...did I just do that!_ The crowd cheers.

Caelior won. He did it.

We did it. A huge, stupid smile grows on my face as I stand there, basking in the fame as the ball rolled along the floor, stopping at my foot. I looked down, grabbed it, and just held it.

_That, Dawn, was fucking awesome._

* * *

After the game, and an extra-long shower, I met up with Caelior in the hallway outside of the Mess Hall. He seemed happy. Well, as much as 'happy' went for a being whose race didn't show much emotion.

"Good shot at the end, Dawn." I nodded.

"Well yeah, but you pretty much carried our team. You scored like, what was it, three-fourths of our shots? You did most of the work. Did you enjoy it?"

"I did, in fact. I would want to do that again."

"There's always the Dreamscape," I realized. "I'm sure T'Leth could cook up a basketball court and ball or something like that. Maybe if I had some free time later?"

"Perhaps. If you also want to, you could test your telepathy on me. Geist and Aegis have been training my telepathic defenses to be much better since I was...liberated from the Collective. If you want to do some psionic training, I would welcome the company."

"That...sounds good." I was still a little surprised that he was being so open. "So you want to do telepathic stuff, basically? Because I'm no telekine."

"Yes. I believe we could both learn from each other."

"Sounds like a plan, Caelior. Let me just add you to my friend's list on the chatroom."

"As will I." We did so, then we parted ways.

Well, that was interesting. Couldn't hurt to have more friends, I guess. Even if they did have four arms and could single-handedly level a city. And it was nice to have someone else to do telepathy with, I suppose.

* * *

_Therapy Office_

_6/5/17- 2:27 PM_

The therapist looked at me. 'So how are you feeling, Dawn? How are you continuing to settle in?" She had a tablet, taking notes.

"Fine, I guess."

"'Fine' can mean many things, Dawn. Are you getting more comfortable with the environment?"

"I guess so. The soldiers and staff have been really welcoming and accepting. I'm glad to see this prestigious organization is so...open."

"Well, we have to be, Dawn. We've got nonhumans here - that was hard for some people to get over, but we're sure as hell accepting _them_."

"I know. It's just that I was afraid I'd have trouble fitting in."

"And _are_ you?" There wasn't any malice in her voice. I _could_ read her mind, but I decided not to. Privacy.

"I mean, sure. I've had a few people here and there, but other than that-"

"A few people here and there?" Oh. I gulped.

"There was, ah, what's her name...Caramel…."

"Carmelita?" Ah. That was her name.

"She gave me some shit on my first day, but besides that, I haven't really seen her since. I know she's been through a lot, so I'm not going to judge her. And looking back, I understand her concern about me doing all of this."

"And are _you_ concerned about yourself?"

"Yes. The split with my parents was, well, rough on me. Still is."

"And do you think that it's been affecting you?"

"Yes. Very much so." She nodded, taking more notes.

"Why do you think your parents disapprove of your choice to join?" I sighed.

"Well, do you have any children, Doctor?"

"Yes."

"Okay. How would you feel if you were in a position where you didn't know a lot about psionics, your son or daughter got tested - which, let's clarify, you didn't really want him or her to- and turns out that he or she is _incredibly_ powerful. And yet still a kid. She doesn't want to go to college, and joins up with the Priests instead. She's away from home, but she's safe, and you are okay with that."

She nodded.

"And then she joins this super elite and dangerous organization that you sure as fucking _hell_ wouldn't want her in that could be super stressful. But she wants to do good. She wants to do her part. Yet there's this part of her telling her not to, but she wants to."

She nodded again. "If that did happen to me, I won't lie - I'd be very anxious too. Your parents are showing their concern here when they're acting like this, not because they hate or despise you."

I sighed. "It doesn't feel like they are. Even the birthday message they sent felt like they were taking a jab at me."

She took a few more notes. "Are you _positive_ they sent that with malicious intent?"

"I mean, it sure _felt_ like it. But fuck, if it didn't feel blatant." I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

"You're stressed about this, aren't you?" she asked.

"No shit." I grumbled, taking another sip of my fizzy orange drink.

Didn't surprise me that XCOM even had soda available for their soldiers. I wasn't complaining- my augs probably negated the large amount of sugar in it. I wondered if it affected my ability to get drunk. Huh.

"Do you fear that this stress will negatively affect your performance?"

"No, why would I?" I said. "It's not like it's life or death." Sarcasm. It's an interesting tool. She simply looked at me, and took more notes.

"Do you often use sarcasm as a defense mechanism?"

"I'm a teenager, Mrs. Yates. Of course I do." I said, slightly annoyed. Not gonna lie, this woman was stressing me out.

"Mmmm." She wrote another note, and set her tablet down. "You are aware that the Commander can see these reports, right?"

"I'm aware. The issue is that I'm worried that this stress is going to affect me. And not in a good way."

"That's perfectly understandable. You're a teenager in a situation where you don't have a lot of experience with. And you're handling this with a lot of emotional maturity."

"That much is true, Doctor." I took a big gulp. "I mean, I can't exactly spam everyone memes, talk about who's with who, who broke up with who, and talk about how Stacey's MLM-selling mother from down the street is cheating on her dad with the track coach, now can I?"

Don't ask. No, really. Don't.

She raised an eyebrow, then continued. "The point of this conversation is that you, for the most part, are handling this well. Geist and Aegis' reports, as well as your bunkmates, have been saying the same thing."

"Well, that's kind of the thing. I'm _doing_ fine, but I'm not worried about this shit." I gestured to my body. "I'm worried about what's happening _here_." I tapped my forehead. "My conscience."

"About killing people?"

"Sort of, I guess. But it's how I'll do it in combat, where, unlike here, there's a very real chance I'll die."

"Don't all soldiers have that fear at one point in their lives, though? You think every soldier marched in here on their first day gung-ho and ready to go in guns blazing?"

"No."

"Then you are simply adjusting, Dawn. Your anxiety is normal, but nevertheless it is good you are recognizing it. Again, it has been made very clear that you will not be deployed into a combat mission until you are deemed ready by your peers. But you are making good progress."

"Um, thanks." I managed a weak grin.

"You're progressing fine by our standards. It's good that you can talk about your worries and issues like this."

"Isn't that what therapists are for?"

"Indeed." she smiled. "Thank you, Dawn."

"No problem. Same time next week?"

"Same time next week." I smiled.

I shook her hand, and walked out, drink in hand. As the fluid swished around in the container, I wondered what my friends were doing. The ones back home. What was Fred doing in his AEGIS job? I heard he was working with the Integration Service, with a Vitakarian was it? Wondered how _that_ was going for him. Stacy, Mark, and Kyle had all enlisted. Didn't know what exactly their positions were, but I'm sure I could find out if I wanted to.

As the list of names ran through my head, I wondered what they'd think if they found out that I was in XCOM. I shook my head, as I imagined their reactions. Not even that, if we were all to have some kind of reunion someday, what would they think of me? Seeing my yellow eyes and checkerboard skin, with bulging muscles and probably a scar or two that I might earn in the future? Sure, I'd l _ook_ cool, but would I be able to fit in? Being surrounded by soldiers, psions, and aliens would definitely have an effect on a person my age.

Would they be afraid of what I'd become? Applaud my bravery?

Would they see me as a freak, or a person?

Would any part of me stay the same, even after all of this? Would I even be able to recognize myself after all that could happen to me?

How much would I gain?

But just how many sacrifices would I have to make, if it meant surviving this?

* * *

To be continued in Chapter 5:

**Live Fire**


	7. Live Fire

_Mess Hall, Praesidium_

_6/5/17_

"So your game went well, then?" My hulking Borelian friend asked.

"It did! It was really fun, and honestly I'd do it again. Such a rush, I tell ya. Really something." I took another sip. "Not something I was expecting to ever do, but then again, I never thought I'd be fighting off a fucking alien invasion either." I looked at my fur-covered comrade, staring intently at me. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken. In my defense, I never thought to be eating lunch alongside a tiny psionic cub like you." She cackled loudly at her own stupid joke.

That's the thing I liked about Borelians; sure, they were big and intimidating, but they could be very boisterous if need be - they were loud and proud people, and they sure as hell knew it.

"Fair enough," I said. "I can't imagine that you took the revelation of what the Collective really was, did you?"

She shook her head. It was kinda funny watching her do that, as her facial hair fluffed up for some reason while doing it. She looked like a dog drying itself off from getting wet.

"It was one that was quite shocking and revealing at the same time. The Mutons alone were terrifying enough to be sure, but those Paradise...things," she shivered. "I cannot bear to think of why anyone in the realm of sanity would allow such a thing to be real. Even the most fanatical Oyariah would struggle to justify it. Or perhaps not. They would find a way to explain it...somehow."

"I'm guessing the Oyariah are somewhat controversial back home?"

She took a moment to consider that. "Not...exactly. The truly controversial are the Sar'Manda...though for entirely different reasons. The Oyariah are...different. They are often isolationists, and hold atypical beliefs compared to the rest of us. Mostly concerning the Ethereals, who they revere." She sighed. "Not without reason. They are powerful, and they saved us when we needed them. But while some view them as fanatical, the truth isn't as exciting. They're just different from us, even if I can't help but see that as naive now, if not just suspicious as to their true beliefs."

"Hmmm. A lot of humans view aliens like that too, you know."

"I do not blame them. Their suspicion and hatred does have some merit."

"I mean, if I'm going to be a hundred percent honest, I was like that when this war began," I admitted. "I was afraid and downright scared. Only when I joined the Priests and more information came out that I...well, I actually kind began to feel bad for you guys."

She appraised me dubiously. "Feel _bad?_ For the people who have violated your world without proper reason?"

"No Carriera, not the entire Collective. Just people like you, y'know?" I waved by hand idly. "The soldiers who've been lied to, and sent out to fight and die for the Ethereals. And then again, not even all the Ethereals. Just the Imperator, if you think about it. Without him, the Collective wouldn't be a thing. For example, what were you and your mate told before being sent here? What had us horrible humans committed to face the wrath of the Ethereals?" I said the last line sarcastically.

She shrugged. "That the humans needed to be absorbed into the Collective with force. That was it."

"What?" I was surprised.

I knew that they weren't given much info on us, but _that?_ That was just laughably stupid.

"Yes. If you wanted a more complex answer from me, I could not give it to you. I doubt even my commanding officers knew much more. Literally everything I and my squadmates learned about you humans was from your Internet and captives." She noticed the concerned look on my face. "The captives I mentioned were not harmed, rather civilians under occupation or captured soldiers. I do not know what happened to them, but my best guess is that they were sent offworld as prisoners. Hopefully not to be experimented on."

I gulped. Maybe I should try to change the subject.

"Before seeing Aegis, had you ever _met_ an Ethereal?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Several weeks after my induction into the Runiararch, the Battlemaster visited my training camp. It was considered an honor for such a high profile visit."

"It must have been scary, seeing him. The guy's huge, and he can literally conquer planets by himself. Not to mention his telekinesis."

"It was quite intimidating. Although in his presence, it felt incredibly, how do I say, powerful. He observed us performing combat simulations, gave some advice, and at the end of the visit, gave this speech on how we were training for a 'great cause of the Ethereal Collective' and how we were the 'excellent examples of the Vitakarian race, who were strong enough to face any enemy.'" She scoffed - I noticed the sarcasm in her voice. "As you humans say, it was a load of bull's shit."

"Bullshit." I quietly corrected her. She snorted again.

"But now my mate and I have seen the truth, an ugly truth which has led to the deaths of millions. All because of so many lies." The grip on her glass cup tightened. I feared she may accidentally break it. But I didn't blame her for her anger. How else could one feel when their whole job, and to a point, their life, was based off a mountain of lies?

"But that is something I can avenge in XCOM. My fallen comrades, and your people's deaths."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"By killing as many of the enemy as I need to." Her voice was lathered with a deep growl.

_Yeeeah. Pro tip - don't piss off a Borelian._

"But that is not for now. I shall do so at a later date." She rumbled.

"So, do you still see the Battlemaster in a good way?"

"Does he give respect where respect is due? Yes. Is he honorable? Yes. Is he a good leader? Yes. The Battlemaster is someone who, in some parts of me, like it or not, I can respect. He is more...stable than some of the other Ethereals I have heard about." While I necessarily didn't agree with that, I could see why she'd think like that. She had more 'experience' with him than I did.

"And your thoughts on him?" I sighed.

"I've read and watched what we have on him. And he's got some good qualities, I'll admit. He's a decent enough leader, he has lines he won't cross, he doesn't march around killing innocent civilians, and he's shown that. He cut off Isomnum's support in Beijing, and up to this point hasn't done anything on Patricia's level." She gave a small nod.

"But, and yes, there's a big _but_. He's killed people - a lot of people. Not to mention the President of the United States, and quite a few XCOM soldiers. Actions, whether or not you like it, have consequences. And he's stood by and let Ethereals and others do much worse things than him, which he could've stopped. He's responsible for a lot of shit. Shit that he needs to answer for."

"Hold on for a second. If actions have consequences, then when you inevitably deploy and kill enemies, does that not also make you responsible for any actions you commit? Yes, he will orphan many, but won't you also as well? Any Vitakara you kill, for example, that will mean that a member or members of their families are not coming home. So are you not responsible for anything you will do in comparison to what he does?"

I paused, gulping. "I...I did not think of it that way."

"Exactly." She took another drink. "You may see him as the enemy, but eventually many will see _you_ , Dawn, as the enemy." She looked me right in the eye. "I have a kill count too." She said _that_ very manner-of-factly.

"You've killed humans?"

"Yes. Ten."

"You...remember?" Okay, now she was getting a little weird.

"Do I regret my actions? Yes. I was under the false belief of you humans being the enemy. I cannot go back in time and change those actions. But what I _can_ do is make up for my transgressions by working with your kind. But that is another conversation, for another time. Back to the point - although he is the enemy, do not think you are better or on another level to him. You are just as responsible for your action as he is."

"That makes us even, in a way. I guess depending on who wins, one of us will be seen as the hero, the other the villain." I snorted. "Funny how that works, innit?"

"I suppose. Time, as always, will tell."

"Yeah, I guess. My grandpa has military experience, you know. Did I ever tell you that?"

"No. Go on." She seemed very intrigued.

"My grandfather served in World War 2. You know what that is, right?"

"Your country fought the ones called the Nazis, yes?"

"Oh, I didn't know you knew-"

"Just because I'm Borelian doesn't mean I spend _all_ my time killing people. Your military history fascinates me."

"Right. Dark times. He was in the OSS, which was a spy organization. He helped the French Resistance against the Nazis. He sabotaged trains, freed prisoners, killed officers, behind-the-lines stuff. He killed quite a few of them, too. Twenty or thirty, something like that."

"Did he survive?"

"Yeah, but cancer got him last year. He was a really good guy. You would've liked him - he was basically my second dad. He was a helluva soldier. A lot of the shit he taught me really impacted me. Kinda motivated my choice to come here, actually. "

She then did something I'd never seen her do. She took her left hand, extended her index and middle fingers, and placed them on her chest. She closed her eyes, whispering something I couldn't pick up.

"Um….what was that?"

"The best term to translate into your language would be 'saying of remembrance'. We do it to remind ourselves of the sacrifices we and loved ones make to protect us from danger. Think of it like you saluting a veteran. You honor their sacrifice, course, and duty. Something I am very sure your grandfather did to the best of his ability."

I was taken a bit aback, I'll admit that. "Thank you. That was really thoughtful of you to do it. What were you saying? I couldn't hear you."

"It's similar to what you'd call a prayer, but it has no religious affiliation. To put it into human terms, what I just said was 'I honor your grandfather for fighting with honor and dignity, for the common good, and in the pursuit of victory against evil.' Any good Borelian would know it. It's very old - _pre-unification_ old."

"Thank you. That really means a lot for you to say that. He was a good man." I took another drink. "I wonder what he would think if he saw me now, his granddaughter fighting against an alien invasion."

"I am sure he would be extremely proud of you."

"What would he even think of this war, if he knew what went on behind the scenes, Ria? All this Ethereal puppet-master shit? And Paradise? Jesus, the things that go on there…"

"Your anger is understandable. Though not all of the Ethereals are bad people. Aegis and Caelior have shown that."

"Oh, I'm well aware. That librarian guy Cogitian, for example. According to Aegis, he pretty much spends all of his time in his libraries. Caelior was well, you know, an incredibly destructive teenager, but the reason for _that_ was because everyone around him used and lied to him. Aegis, never had anything against him from the get-go. Sana is...complicated. Yes, she saved your species. That's alright with me. What I _don't_ approve of is her childlike attitude and her god awful annoying naivety. I've read her file. She had _one_ chance to help us, and she just left because 'oh no, more people are going to die'. Bitch, this is a _war_. People die in wars all the time."

I shook my head. "Some people, Ria. Some people are just hard to understand. But enough of that. Got a lot on my schedule. I've got the sim with the Archangels coming soon, my test coming up-"

"Test?"

"IC wants to see how much I've learned. I'm going into a Dreamscape 'battle', and how I'll do it will be recorded. Kind of a progress check, if you will."

"Good luck, cub." A large, furry, clawed hand patted me on the shoulder. I winced slightly as I imagined the large claws piercing my skin. "I have trained you well so far, no?"

"Well, my aim's gotten better. I'm getting there. Couldn't have done it without you."

"And I will continue. You are a good student, Dawn. I think you would make a good Borelian, given the chance." I laughed. Loudly.

"Me? No offense, but I would _not_ make a good Borelian. I'm not very violent or strong, and honestly, I'm not sure if I'll ever fully become a real soldier."

"Dawn, being a Borelian isn't all about soldiering around and shooting things. It's the _why_. _Why_ , you may ask, are Borelians so militaristic compared to the rest of the Vitakara?" I shrugged in response, no immediate answer coming to mind.

"Why? Well, I will give you a much more in-depth explanation later, but in essence, before we came together as one state, we were a mess of clans, constantly fighting for resources, land, and the like. After many wars, most of the clans unified as a central authority. Those who did not submit were...eliminated or made a member by force."

She paused for a moment. "War and fighting are in any Borelian's blood, Dawn. It is our heritage. But it is much more than that. Dawn, it's not about what your role fulfills. It's _why_ you do what you do. Same thing with why you're here, same thing with my people. We both do things for reasons that ultimately makes us who we both are."

"That's really eye-opening. Thanks for that, I...I needed that."

"Any day, little cub. Now if you must excuse me, I must go fight with my mate."

"Uh, _what?_ "

"You should have seen the look on your face! Ha! It is a common pastime for Borelians to fight. Not violently, of course! It is well, think of it as exercise. It also builds strength and trust amongst couples and friends. I will see you later, Dawn."

"Bye." I waved as she walked away.

Well, that was deep. If you told me several years ago that I'd be having deep moral conversations with an alien, a _furry_ alien of all things, I'd have called you crazy.

Now? Just another day at XCOM.

* * *

_Project Nolan Training Center, Praesidium_

_6/7/17- 11:30_ _AM_

More Dreamscape free time to kill. Only this time it'd be more interesting.

I had teammates this time around.

The Archangel trio that I'd met in the Mess Hall a while back had offered to train with me today, which I was more than happy to accept. They'd brought along a few more Archangels that I'd hadn't met before, making two full Hosts. These guys made me look like a small fry in terms of experience, and I was sure I could learn a thing or two from them.

Also, they had jetpacks, sooo...yeah. That was awesome. Sierra went to introduce me to the rest of their team.

"Alright, listen up. Today's exercise is going to be slightly different from normal. We have a person who'll be training with us today. We'll be showing her the ropes on battlefield operations and such. This is Dawn. She's new, but a powerful telepath." I smile, and give a wave. I'm greeted by some nods and waves.

_Alright, no 'how old are you' questions yet, so that's good._

"Today's op will be simple- we will be fighting in a city environment, with the goal of removing all enemy forces. Once that is accomplished, we will be eliminating an HVT, a commanding officer. That's where our telepath comes in." She pointed to me. "Dawn here will be providing telepathic assistance to us. Her job here is to use her telepathy to find the target, so we can eliminate it. Expect her to also use her psionics to help us in general during the engagement."

I had asked Sierra beforehand to not bring up my biopathy, as that was well within the works, and I had grown ever so more comfortable with my regular telepathy. She had agreed. Thanks, Sierra.

Everyone else on the team nodded. Besides Ted and I, I wondered how many of them were psions.

"The rest of us will be engaged in the elimination of all enemy forces. I will be using the Valkyrie MEC to provide overall support, and Ted will be in command for this mission. Understood?" We all nodded.

Let's do it.

_This is your first big mission, Dawn. It's not a real one, but it's going to be about as real as it gets. Stay calm, and focus. Don't lose it, okay?_

We all placed hands or fingers on the Orb, which instantly transported us into a large parking lot. We were all fully clad in our armor and weapons - Sierra being the exception, as the Valkyrie suit was all she needed to kick some alien ass. Wearing my Aurora armor had become more natural to me, as I had been treating it like a second skin. The shields it gave were a lifesaver on more than one occasion, and it overall was a very neat piece of tech.

My plasma rifle was also in hand, which I slammed a magazine into. I was getting better and better at using XCOM's arsenal, and I had found two particular favorites in plasma and symbiote grenades. I'd honestly never imagined myself using sci-fi weapons like plasma rifles or grenades in my life, but then again, truth can be stranger than fiction.

_Okay, I've got enough grenades….ammo looks good...everything looks good on the HUD...alright then._

"Everyone ready?" I gave a thumbs up, letting the rest of the team know.

"Okay, let's go!" Sierra's engines screamed, lifting her into the sky.

" _Dawn, you're with me and Anna._ " Ted said over the radio. " _Remember, you can kill things, but your main goal is finding that HVT._ "

"Got it!" I followed the two of them as the rest of the Host took off and flew over another building, taking the block across from us. We entered a street filled with empty cars. A squad of Mutons was on the far side of the street. Ted and Anna took flight and quickly killed them. I followed as we moved past a row of empty shops. An explosion sounded a few blocks away, with various chatter on the radio.

" _Sierra's encountered a camp of Andromedons in a nearby park. She's taking them out as we speak. We've got a large enemy group up ahead. We'll take them from the rooftops, you from the street. Got it?_ "

"Got it, sir." My grip tightened on my gun. _You can do this Dawn. C'mon, you've trained for this._

They took off, heading for the rooftop of an apartment building. I took cover inside a jewelry shop, behind the counter, giving me some cover. I searched the nearby area with my telepathy.

 _Those two are Anna and Ted. Let's see - aha._ I picked up a squad of Vitakarian soldiers. They were definitely responding to the destruction that my jetpack-wielding friends were probably causing. I found the squad leader, and got in his head. I tried to ignore the rush of memories in his head.

See, that's the thing about killing with telepaths. In a way, we have it the hardest. Telekines can just snap your neck, and not even give it much thought. Dynamo burns you to dust with overwhelming energy, Aegii can just slice you in half, and a teleporter can do something ridiculous like pour lava on you or send you into space.

But us telepaths - we had it hard, you see. We go into the enemy's head - see their memories, everything they are, what makes them _them_ \- and just end it. You end an entire life while witnessing it.

And that's what got to me about telepathy. You just saw too much. Geist told me not to focus on those memories, said to not get too attached. And while I understood him, there was a part of me that just - how do we say this - feels uneasy. Scared. Chilled.

I couldn't get it out of my head. I just couldn't. Killing Mutons and Sectoids was easy. They were just mindless brutes and machines, with the latter being just plain creepy. Andromedon minds were kind of weird, not a lot of emotion, and more...kind of mechanical. Still even when I did kill one, their suits were a bitch, so telepathy wouldn't totally take care of them.

So when I got into a Vitakarian mind, or any of the general races really, there was a part of me that just felt _guilty_. Seeing their families, friends, memories. I felt guilty killing them.

So I decided to try something different.

I searched around in his memories, trying to find something that could be useful - _aha_.

_Ted. I got him. He's a Sargon, located in an office building on the corner of West and Fifteenth. Nineteenth floor. Be advised, he has a few Titans on his location._

" _Copy Dawn. See if you can link up with us And next time, you don't have to use telepathy. Radio works."_ I blushed. Oh fuck.

"Sorry!" I turned my attention to the squad of Vitakarians. Let me see if I can do this. There _were_ allied forces in the city, but they were a bit behind us, taking care of business. I got into the squad's heads.

 _Go to our lines. Put down your weapons and surrender. You will not be hurt._ I felt them obey my commands, taking a different path.

 _Good._ I moved on, following the Host's mark on my HUD. Well, that and the path of dead bodies they've left behind. I can hear fighting in the distance. I'm still passively feeling around for any enemies, and I couldn't feel any. I turned the corner, catching my teammates in the middle of mowing down a few Mutons. I focused my power on the few stranglers, dropping them.

" _Dawn! There you are."_ Anna said. I nodded, acknowledging her.

" _We're taking down that Sargon. Feel like joining us?"_ She had a joking tone in her voice.

"Um, sure." I tried to keep up with my flying teammates as fast as I could. Damn, they were fast. Why can't this armor have those again? That'd be awesome.

" _You said he's got Titans, right?"_

"Yeah. I can disable them with telepathy if you want."

" _We've got Sierra. She can neutralize them. Use your telepathy to see if he can give us anything useful. So keep him alive, got it?"_

"Understood!" I followed them down the block. We turned the corner, and immediately felt something.

"Enemies!" I yelled. "On the roof-" The top of the building exploded, as Sierra flew over it, hitting it with a CIF3 round, destroying the Mutons with heavy weapons on top.

"Watch it, Sierra! I don't want a trifluoride tan!"

" _Sorry Dawn, but I only had one chance to kill_ _them_ _before they opened up on you. Anyway, there's a bunch of_ _enemies_ _on the Sargon's location. I'll give you some air cover as you link up with the other host."_

" _Roger, Sierra."_ Ted said. I followed him and Anna down the street. I felt something.

"Ted, Anna, there's a barricade on the next street. There's a few Sectoid Vanguard- ow!" They sensed me, beginning an attack. My armor's defenses did well, but fuck, those hurt.

"You alright, Dawn?" Anna asked, sounding quite concerned.

I waved her off, focusing on my defenses. _Remember what Geist and Aegis taught you. For the wall around your mind, and keep it that way._

Remembering my training, I drew upon some of my power, shielding my teammate's minds from the oncoming pain.

"I'm-I'm good! Fuckin' hurts, though! You guys should be protected!"

We turned the corner, and I focused on the first two, killing them after several seconds while blowing a Muton's head off with my plasma rifle. _Focus, breathe, shoot. Focus, breathe, shoot. Keep the grip._ Ted and Anna laid down fire, mowing the rest of the Mutons and killing several Vanguards. One attempted to retreat, but I downed it with a headshot, shutting that down.

" _Good work with that protection, Dawn."_ Ted acknowledged. " _I didn't feel a thing."_ _Thank you Ted, though what you said could_ so _be taken out of context._

"Thanks. How close are we?"

" _Very. Jim, what's your status?"_

" _Almost at your location. Enemy forces seem to be gathering around the office building. Has Dawn found anything?"_ Ted linked me to the other Archangel's radio.

"Uh, there's a lot of Titans. Seven, actually. Doesn't look like they have any anti-air weapons. Odd."

" _Copy, Conley. Linking up with you guys now."_ The three other Archangels flew over us a second later, causing me to flinch. Jeez, those engines are loud. They landed right next to us. Sierra was...somewhere in the sky, probably doing overwatch.

" _Alright, here's the plan. Sierra is going to hit the building from above, while we hit it from the front. Sending relevant data to your HUDs now."_ Ted looked at me. " _Dawn, how good are you with data recollection?"_

"You mean taking info from people's minds? Yeah, I'm pretty good at it."

" _Excellent. Dawn. See if you can retrieve anything from the Sargon's mind."_

"But, this is a sim, sir-"

"It may not be, but it's very possible you'll be doing something like it in real life." I nodded.

"Very well. I'm ready to begin."

"Alright, Archangels. Let's go."

They took off, heading towards the building, which was in the middle of a business park. Troops were grouped around the building, and we almost immediately began taking fire from ground forces. I detected several Runiararch snipers setting up shop on top, which I took care of with a _sleep_ command. Before I could focus on the Sargon, the Titans began to charge.

" _Titans! Take care of 'em!"_ Mark yelled.

"No! I've got them!" I called out.

I reached out, going into their minds, gathering my influence as I weaved between the cracks bringing them under my control. Through my mind, I projected my will.

So much power.

I could've killed them. Made them go insane and kill everyone around them. I could've slowly melted them, turning them into primordial gunk. I had the power to do it. It would have been so easy, like with a flick of a wrist. Psionics just made killing...so much easier. So much to do in one thought. A part of me wanted to kill them. Make these brainwashed brutes pay for all they've done.

 _They want to meet their gods? I'll send them to them myself._ I began to think of the command. I felt their minds take the pain, their bodies twitching as they felt it ripple through them.

 _Wait, no! I don't have to...it's not right. I shouldn't be giving them this. There's another way._ I could faintly hear my teammates talking, but I couldn't hear them. I was fully dedicated to these Titans. I could feel their pain, my power _this_ close to ending them, once and forever. But I saw much more than just a beast, a creature stuck in a cave and trapped in a cult, brainwashed to worship false gods.

These were people, too. Victims in their own right. No choice but to follow blindly; living in ignorance, believing the unenlightened masses such as us had to be brought to heel, controlled by the collective consciousness of their own lies and deceit.

They had been through pain already.

And I was only giving them more.

What the hell was I doing?

Something different needed to be done. I focused, and projected my power again, my commands being obeyed as the massive creatures collapsed on their hands and knees, rolling over.

I opened my eyes, looking at my handiwork closely. The Titans were still, unmoving, yet quite alive. They would be easily captured later; a fate better than what I originally had in mind. I made sure to put in a command not to be so...violent when the inevitably awoke.

" _Dawn...what did you just do?"_

"They're asleep. Don't worry about them. Now, that Sargon…" I closed my eyes, and a moment later, he came tumbling out of the window, his body falling nineteen stories before hitting the concrete with a sickening thud. I walked over to his body, and touched his mind.

"He's got some troop movements in there. Let's see...there's quite a few Executioners and Heralds being gathered in the southwest corner of the city. Some Contamination Operatives, too."

" _Good work, Dawn. Sierra?"_

"Forces around you guys have been neutralized. Area's clear. Aaaannd….that's the sim." As soon as she said that, the area flickered around us, returning us to a blank room.

"Good work, everyone!" Ted said, and walked over to me, patting me on the shoulder. "Good job back there, Dawn. You're getting better, I can tell."

I smiled proudly. "Thank you."

"How about we take a break, and you can eat lunch with us. Then maybe another sim?"

I nodded. "Sounds like a plan!"

As we exited the Dreamscape, and moved towards the Mess Hall, Sierra stopped me, a question in her mechanical eyes. "Good job back there. But I need to ask. Why didn't you kill those guys when you had the chance to?"

I paused. "Because I didn't need to."

She raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"For Sectoids, Mutons, and Andromedons, it's easy enough for me to kill them, unless instructed to capture one. Mutons are basically beasts, Sectoids are emotionless drones, and Andromedons are just...weird." I paused. "But Vitakara, damnit are people too. They're not all monsters, Sierra. I'm giving them a chance when I tell them to surrender or sleep, so ADVENT can capture them without much conflict."

She crossed her arms. "You do realize you won't be able to save all of them, or that they aren't responsible for their choices?"

"Yeah." I grew a little quiet. "But they've been toyed with and lied to for their entire lives - and now they're fighting and dying in a war for reasons they can't even fathom. The least I can do is give them a chance, slim as it may be, to give a chance to live and learn the truth."

Her gaze softened. "Good luck, Dawn. But you're going to need more than that if you want to come out of this alive." She walked away, and I followed her. I knew she was right- I'd have to do much more. Maybe even kill more. That was something that was inevitable.

But I couldn't let the killing and power get to me.

That, in a way, was something that I feared even more than dying.

* * *

_Dreamscape_

_6/9/17_

I stood before Geist in the Dreamscape, my hands balled. I felt tense and worried, but a part of me felt ready.

"Today will be your first test. This is an indication of the progress you have achieved so far, and a measurement of what you have learned."

"Will it test my biopathy?"

"No." Geist answered. "Until you lower your time more significantly, it will not be tested like this. The additional purpose of this test is to see how you perform on the battlefield, and under pressure."

"So what's the objective? Do I have to survive? Take out a certain number of guys?"

"You will be put in a battle scenario and will have to engage the enemy. How you perform and how long you last will be recorded."

_Ah. So it's a survival thing. Okay._

"Okay."

"You are anxious"

I tensed up.

"Yeah." My voice got a little quiet. "I don't want to fail. Make a fool of myself in front of you."

He nodded in understanding. "I am certain you will perform adequately. You have been progressing well, and you have taken admirable initiative in training with the Archangels. You are my student, Dawn. And I make sure that my students succeed, no matter if they are in XCOM or outside it." He patted my shoulder, then gestured to the door.

"Good luck."

He disappeared. I stared at the door, and my plasma rifle materialized into my hand.

_Okay T'Leth. Let's dance._

I scanned for any nearby enemies. I don't detect any. Odd. I kicked the door aside, and moved through the hallway, rifle aimed, finger on the trigger. _Focus, Dawn. Scan, move, aim, shoot. Pretend like this for real._

The building I was in looked like an apartment building. Still wasn't picking up any signatures, which was odd. Maybe-

A Custodian slammed through the wall across from me, and began opening fire. My shields took the hit, which gave me enough time to put a few shots in its chest, taking it out.

 _One down. Who knows how many left to go._ That little jump scare got a jolt out of me, not gonna lie. I stepped over the burnt corpse, moving down the hallway until I reached a door. I felt some minds behind the door. Three of them. I move through the door into a balcony overlooking a lobby. There are three Cobrarians guarding the door, with two more Custodians on the stairwells, blocking the only ways down. Okay then.

I went into the mind of one of the Cobrarians, and a few seconds later, the snek charged the left Custodian, attacking it, while making the other two pass out. I fired on the right Custodian, taking its head off. I threw a symbiote grenade at the remaining two sneks, trapping them to the ground. I aimed. Two headshots. Boom. They went down.

I looked at the Cobrarian, who had taken down the Custodian, standing over its destroyed body. She was just staring at it, waiting for another command. I briefly looked at her. I knew she was just a sim, but parts of me kind of felt a little guilty, controlling someone like that, forcing them to do things against their will. It was a tactical necessity, yeah, but I would be lying if there wasn't a part of me that felt wrong doing it. Unlike a Muton or Sectoid, she had a choice. She was a person who would have a family or friends back home.

 _Sleep._ I thought. _She'll be taken as a prisoner later and learn the truth._ The Cobrarian obeyed, curling up and dropping her weapon. Satisfied, I continued with the mission. I ran through the door, taking cover behind a car in the parking lot. A squad of Muton Elites were patrolling the street, looking for something.

I focused, scanning their minds for anything useful. Nothing. I executed them with a thought, and carefully moved down the street, taking cover behind cars and buildings. Looked like I was in a small town or something. A group of Floaters appeared, not initially noticing me. They seemed to be investigating the 'missing' patrol. I couldn't let them see me. I primed a plasma grenade, aimed, and threw it, sticking one. The explosion took out a couple, while I gunned down the rest, my enhanced reflexes and training kicked in.

A little messy, but not bad. The last one wasn't entirely dead; with both of its engines destroyed. It was wobbling around on the ground. Rather than shooting it, I stomped on it twice, crushing it under my armored boot, destroying it. I reloaded and moved on. As I moved on into a nearby car dealership, I heard a close thumping sound. I turned around, looking for the source-

A Berserker, roaring with fury broke through the wall-fuck! How the fuck did I miss that? I was too slow to react. It swiped at me, knocking the gun out of my hands and sent me flying through the glass wall, right into an SUV, heavily denting it. Pain shot through my body as I hit the concrete, trying to pick myself up. Fuck, I should've been more careful. The Berserker, roared, preparing to charge me again. I held up a hand, focusing my fury on it, killing it instantly.

 _Not today, bitch._ Fuck, I was hurting. I tried to pick myself up, but my back hurt like a bitch. My legs worked okay, though I moved around the car, gripping the hood while looking for my gun. As I looked for it, I heard sounds of feet marching. I detected multiple minds - Andromedons. Contamination ones.

Fuck. If I get hit with enough of that toxic shit, I'm done.

I limped inside, trying to ignore the pain as much as I could. I noticed my gun, and grabbed it. I scooted myself behind a display, and took aim, counting the troops. Ten, three of them regular Andromedon troops. They were heading towards me. I checked my grenades; I had a few. My symbiotes were all there, maybe I could trap some.

Let's see.

I waited until they got close enough, then threw a symbiote grenade at them, trapping three. I killed those three with my mind, before throwing a plasma grenade, which hit one of their tanks, causing it to promptly rupture and explode. The acid sprayed all over the enemy force, melting through the tanks of those within the explosion radius, taking out a sizeable chunk as more suits and tanks ruptured. I turned my gun at one of the Containment Andromedons who'd managed to avoid the explosion. I sent another telepathic command towards him, killing him instantly.

I then sprayed his suit with plasma fire, downing the enemy for good. I reloaded...fuck! I was on my last mag. Fucking Berserker displaced my ammo. I needed another weapon soon. I looked at what was left. Three Andromedons, one severely wounded, limping. I fired at him first, downing him, before I used my psionics to end him. The other two began throwing grenades. My body was still weak, but I moved to the left, the grenades overreaching and turning the wall behind me to ash.

 _Alright, fish tanks, this has gone on for long enough._ I killed the two with telepathy, and there a plasma grenade at each- my gun's out of ammo, and the grenades did their job well enough- the suits burnt to scrap. What a rush, damn.

Then I turned my head. A grenade, close to me.

 _Boom._ The explosion sent shockwaves of pain through my body, knocking me back a bit. A stinging pain flowed through my left side and arm. I had trouble moving my left hand.

"Gaaaaah!" I moaned with pain, dragging myself out of the dealership. Fuck, it hurts. I gritted my teeth, trying to hold back the pain. My skin was protected, but it burnt. My armor on the left side was chipped and scratched. I was definitely bleeding, somewhere. The shields took some damage, but the shielding on it was damaged, the left part of the shield was flickering.

I subtly limped out of the dealership - what was left of it, anyway. _I need a gun._ The Andromedon ones were too damaged, and no way I'm going anywhere near that sludge acid shit. I moved along, looking for more targets, and another weapon. The pain was better, but shit, it hurt. I made my way down the road, searching for hostiles. I picked up a squad of Vitakara - Borealians in the parking lot nearby.

I was impatient, and needed help. Pain flowed through my veins, and I was angry. I killed them with a thought, and picked up a plasma rifle and some clips. I picked up something else- shit.

A line of Titans were walking down the street, wielding gargantuan hammers and shields- towards me.

_You fucking with me now, Geist? Or do you just want to watch me get killed. Ah, fuck it._

The leader charged, wielding dual-wielding hammers, roared a battle cry, and charged at me. I focused on his mind, my internal grip and anger building up.

 _You wanna feel pain? C'mon. Show me what you got._ I got in his head, and gave him an order - charge, but not at me; his comrades. He smashed one's head in, and wailed on the others' arm. _Die, stone fuckers._

I fired my plasma rifle at another, emptying half a clip into her head before she went down. My right arm was doing okay, but my aim was wobbly. I pulled myself ahead, as I watched my coworker murder his friends, trying to ignore the pain. I executed another with my mind, just as the controlled Titan mashed another's' head with his two hammers. The remaining one caught a lucky break and used his body mass to trip him before he smashed his head in like a game of sadistic Whack-A-Mole.

Then, it was just us two. I stared, panting at the Oyariah as he began to charge. I aimed my fun, firing and firing at the charging mass of stone, faith, and fury. The pain was distracting- I couldn't focus as he got closer and closer _C'mon, c'mon, think! Focus, you-_

The club hit me on the right side. Bones and my arm snapped. I cried out with pain as I was sent flying-again- into another wall. This time, I felt almost dead.

But not dead enough. I roared, pushing the pain and fury through my veins into my mind, all focused on Fuckface who began to charge me again.

The anger and pain swelled within me, condensing into something ugly. Hatred. Despair. Rage. I looked at him, screaming, and focused everything I had on him, going as deep as I could. I didn't care. The rush was too great to resist. I ignored the memories and pushed, pushed like my life actually depended on it.

_Kill him. Reduce him to nothing. Make him feel your wrath. He is nothing. You are something!_

My hands balled.

The layer broke under my will. The cards collapsed as my will utterly destroyed it.

_Die._

_I am death._

_You are nothing._

His head melted, causing his body to go limp and die. I chuckled, spitting some blood over my HUD.

"What's next?" I yelled. "What's next!" The sim ended right then and there, me lying all sore on the Dreamscape floor as Geist stood over me. My body was fine, but the pain lingered and lingered.

"Well done," he said with a nod. "You should be proud of yourself."

The praise normally would have been amazing to hear, but right now, I was just tired.

"I need a fucking nap."

* * *

_Entertainment Room 5, Praesidium_

_6/10/17_

Reflecting on my previous test, I sat on an admittedly comfy chair, holding the controller, leaning back, soda and various unhealthy snacks on the table as I stared at the screen, blasting away generic bad guys. It was a nice setup if you ask me. I played video games before joining the Priests, and the kind of money that could buy _this_ setup, much less _twelve_ of them. And this was only _one_ entertainment room.

They were nice as far as comforts went- nice, soft, chairs, TVs, consoles, board games, cards, almost anything to keep an army of alien-killing badasses occupied. If my friends saw this...hoo boy, they'd probably kill to get access to this. It was any teenager's wet dream. Did I mention the cabinets and fridges loaded with enough food and drinks to keep us fed? Oh yeah, there was beer. Had I tried it? No. There wasn't an age restriction, anyway. I doubt the designers anticipated a teenage girl trying to nab their precious stash of beer.

All that there _was_ was a 'drink responsibly' poster next to it, and a camera aimed right at the fridge, probably to scare off any nighttime snack raids. A part of me wanted to try one, just for kicks, but I didn't know if there'd be any consequences. A drunk psion didn't exactly scream _safe_ to me.

As I chomped down on a chip, a human guy and Vitakarian woman, both wearing science uniforms, entered the room. They were laughing and smiling, probably coworkers. Vitakarians in particular were interesting - they just looked so _human_. Taller, greyer, and no hair of course, but those glowing eyes were _cool_. They had five fingers and toes, just like us- even their nose looked similar.

Of course, an alien-looking human (woman in particular) meant that inevitably, someone was going to make...depictions of them. Some of which I unfortunately laid my eyes upon when browsing the Internet post-Australia. I was kinda surprised ADVENT didn't censor it. While in the insanity, I could understand why, due to their human-like similarities, it was still a bit off-putting.

Then she kissed him.

Oh my, things were getting interesting.

Did I care if someone was attracted to aliens? No, not really, as long as such a relationship was consensual and both parties truly liked and loved one another. Could I blame them? No. She looked really similar to a human chick. Hell, if I was a dude, I'd probably find her somewhat attractive.

I'd come to learn that xenophobia wasn't exactly something that was good at making relations between species. If you want to hate aliens, hate the Ethereals. Well, that was my logic. Anyway. Without them, I doubt any of the other races would have invaded Earth. Blind hatred doesn't exactly get you anywhere. My grandpa fought and bled so hate like that wouldn't rise again.

"Um...hi." They both looked at me. "Sorry, but if you want some privacy, I'll uh...go somewhere else."

They both looked at each other for a minute, then the Vitakarian woman spoke up first. "We do not require privacy. My boyfriend here was simply going to show me one of your video-games. Ah, I think it was called Dumb-"

"You mean _DOOM_?"

 _Boyfriend. Huh._ The guy blushed.

"Honey, you don't-" I waved him off.

"It's fine. I'm not weirded out or anything. If you're into aliens, that's cool." _Yeah, my friend is too, but we're not gonna talk about that unless you want to be mentally tortured for hours. Who_ _knows_ _?_ _Maybe_ _XCOM Intelligence could use it as a tool for torture._ The guy just looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, how old are you?"

"Nineteen. I'm a biopath."

"So we have those now. Huh." The guy lowered his eyebrow. "How long have you been here?"

"About two months. You?"

"One and a half years. We're both in Research and Development. We helped build the plasma grenades."

"I designed the trigger mechanism." The Vitakarian says proudly.

"No way! You built _that!?_ That's so cool! My friends use those all the time!" More raised eyebrows from the guy.

"You've been in combat?"

"No, Dreamscape. But I will eventually. Still getting ready for killing people and all that." _Jeez Dawn, could you sound any more morbid?_ I extended a hand. "I'm Dawn Conley." The guy reluctantly took it.

"Jareth Barion. And this is my...girlfriend-"

"Sala'calintha'valian. It's nice to meet you!" She piped up.

"Soo, if you don't mind me asking, how did you two exactly _meet?_ "

"Oh! It's a funny story!" She said with a smile. "See, a while ago, we had finished this large project. I'd helped a lot with the energy management on it, so Jareth was nice enough to invite me! I had never been to a human party before, so I gave into my intrigue and said yes! It was so fun, Noisy and loud too, but that's something you humans seem to be good at!"

"I consumed come of your 'chocolate', felt a little odd, and asked him if he wanted to have sexual intercourse-"

"Ahem. I think you've told her enough details, Cali." He put his hand on her shoulder, blushing.

"I'm sorry. I am still getting used to-you know - being around humans. You people look so much like us, yet so different. And very nice."

"So." Jareth coughed. "And since then, Cali and I are...together. Well, one really can't go on _dates_ here, but yeah. We're together, and, well, we like each other a lot."

"He's nice! He's intelligent and funny, but I love the _hair!_ I don't know how you humans manage it! It's so funny, especially when you guys color it! It's so _soft!_ "

Well, she certainly liked humans. Weird obsession with hair, but not too different from some of my classmates. She would've gone crazy if she saw the shit Brenda did with her hair. She was a bitch, but she knew how to make her hair look good.

"And uh, what do you like about her?"

"Well, she uh…" He coughed. "She's nice, smart - very different from a lot of people I know. More empathetic. A little naive, but we're working on that. Truth be told, she's just...really sweet. She cares a lot - not just me, but a lot of the engineering teams. Being around her has shown us that not all aliens are bad, y'know?"

She slowly took his hand. "Jareth-"

"And in the end, she's a good person. She's told us all about life back on Vitakar, how no one there knows about this war. How nice the place is, how innocent her people truly are. Maybe, when this whole war is over, she can go back there and help her people move on from the...horrible things the Ethereals have done to them. And maybe…" He took her other hand. "Maybe we can, too." She smiled, looking at him.

Awwwwww.

"That's so sweet!" Had more material and potential than any relationship I'd seen in high school by far. "Wait, this is all, like, allowed? Right?" Not sure if "Alien Romance" was covered in the rulebook.

"Yes. It's allowed."

"Thankfully." She said, grinning.

"So, do you have like, a relationship plan or something? I mean, there's going to be people in this world- a lot of them who won't approve of this." I wasn't one of them, but I was curious. He nodded, a bit glumly.

"We know. But it's quite legal. We're staying together right now, but if this whole war thing moves off Earth, and it becomes safer, we're thinking about getting a real place to live. My house is still standing, last time I checked."

"That is, if I fit through the doorways. Might need to have a whole new one built just for me." She said. They both chuckled.

"Does your family know about this?" I asked Jareth.

"No. I've been quiet about it. I'm not sure how they'd react, honestly. So I'm not telling them about us right now. But everyone else on my team is okay with it, so there's that."

"Well, that's a start. I can kind of relate with that. My parents weren't exactly happy with me coming here. We still love each other, but still…" I paused. "It's kinda rough."

"I know how that feels," Calintha said. "I have not spoken to my family in a long time. Too long. Your XCOM Intelligence gives me intel updates every week, but it's not the same." She looked down, sad. "I miss them."

I felt her pain. Knowing your family was still alive, yet the uncertainty about her was serious. At least my parents knew I was alive and well. For all I knew, the Zararch told her family she was some kind of traitor. But she wasn't. At least in my eyes, she wasn't. She was a sensible and moral being just like us, doing the right thing for her people, using her mind and skills to do her part, just like me or any other soldier or scientist here.

"I'm sorry you feel like that." I said. "I'm sure you'll meet them again one day. Maybe you can reconcile things."

"Perhaps. Though that ultimately is a 'long shot', as you say. It may happen one day, if I do not die. But, for now, I can help my people the best they can, even if it means some of them will be killed."

_Was that directed at me?_

But for now, I didn't respond to that. I sure as shit had killed aliens, and I definitely would. How many and how was a talk for another day.

"Well, I'm really happy for you two. It's really nice that you guys show that humans and aliens can come together and be happy and romantic."

 _Godammit Dawn, don't fucking say it that way! Do you have any idea how sexual that sounds?_ Luckily, they didn't seem to catch the accidental innuendo.

"Thank you...what was your name again?" Calintha said.

"Dawn Conley. It's been a pleasure meeting you two. Now, about that game you mentioned…"

* * *

_Elevator, Praesidium- 11:06 AM_

_6/11/17_

I got into the elevator, hitting the 'down' button to get some food.

"Hold that for me would you, Dawn?" I turned, noticing the Commander coming my way. Wide-eyed, I hit the 'open' button, giving him time to get in. I start to snap to attention, but he interrupts me.

"Not necessary, Miss Conley. I appreciate the gesture, but that is not necessary at this time."

"Yes, sir." I composed myself, and we both stood quietly in the elevator. _Awkward._

"I saw the outcome of your test. I'm impressed."

"Thank you, sir. I do my best." _Oh god, he's right here? What do I say? How do I act? This is the Commander we're talking about, after all._ I put up an awkward smile. "Just doing my part for the cause, sir!"

"You don't have to call me sir all the time. Commander will do."

I nodded. "Sorry. I...I just feel a little uncomfortable….sir."

"And why is that?" I gulped. "You can be honest."

"Are you sure you want me to be honest?"

"I would prefer my soldiers to speak up when they have questions or doubts," he said. "The battlefield isn't a place for second-guessing or doubting yourself - or what you're fighting for. Even if that means questioning some of the decisions _I_ might make."

"I was watching some combat footage recently, and I was watching the Chad mission. The ones with the Hades Contingency. The one you participated in sir. I've read about it, though seeing it in action was admittedly disturbing sir." I swallowed, heart pounding. "Killing civilians...they hadn't done anything wrong. I mean, I can kinda understand killing their leader - he did agree to join the SAS after all. But is really killing all of those people necessary sir? And with Chyrssalids of all things?" I paused. He looked at me, and nodded once.

"I'm not trying to criticize you or anything." My anxiety was going through the roof right now. I shouldn't have said that to him. He was probably angry at me for even bringing it up. "It's just...it's really off-putting. I know we're defending humanity and all, and have its best interests in mind. But is that kind of killing really necessary?"

He seemed to consider what I'd just said. He didn't even seem angry, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't mind criticism, Dawn. That helps leaders get better - and more importantly, I understand your concern. I don't blame how you feel. It's natural. You're young, and don't have much experience with this. How about we discuss this in my office?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

_Commander's Office_

_Several Minutes Later_

I sat down in the chair in front of his desk, as he sat down and cleared some stuff off his death that was probably "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you" levels of classified.

"So Dawn, you were asking about the Hades Contingency?"

"Yes. If I must be honest sir - I'm concerned about the ah, tactics used. I understand targeting the leadership. But civilians, sir? I don't know, it just seems...messy."

"It is messy," he said grimly. "It is horrific. It's good that actions like the Hades Contingency are repulsive to you. They are and always will be."

"Then..."

He lifted a hand. "But indulge me for a moment, Dawn. Let's switch places - you know that several nations are about to join the SAS. They will likely be heavily augmented, and lead to a prolonged African conflict with potentially more deaths of ADVENT and XCOM alike. Removing the leadership will leave the infrastructure intact, and could potentially lead to a full alien takeover. This will happen within days. Diplomacy has failed, and they don't know that we know their plans. What do you do, Dawn?"

"If I was in a place like yours, I'd cut the head off the snake if I had to. No leadership to make decisions like that, no decision that could hurt us can be made at all."

A nod. "And what then? Is ADVENT close enough to invade and occupy the whole country? Was the entire chain of command eliminated, or only the leadership?

"An occupation would be too invasive. Too obvious, then." I said. "The chaos could easily disrupt them."

"'Invasive' is less of an issue than other factors. Logistics, manpower, positioning. The ultimate point, Dawn, is that there are several major factors to consider in this conflict. How many lives can be saved, and how many must be sacrificed to save more. If our attack had been...sanitized. Pinpointed solely on the leaders, then the SAS would march in, mobilize an enraged populace, and turn them against ADVENT."

He laced his fingers together. "The SAS will still invade. But they will be inheriting a country which distrusts them. Which is confused, leaderless, and afraid. The SAS will be forced to either devote resources to stabilize the country or ignore it. And both of those...benefit us. ADVENT. XCOM. That is one less country attacking us, or SAS soldiers shooting at our own. It's less civilians who are being pressed into service to die for an alien cause."

He apprised me. "And that is one reason we exist, Dawn. Our mandate is to do whatever it takes to protect Humanity, even if some of our own is sacrificed in the process. It is not easy. It is painful to rationalize. People will try to justify it. They shouldn't. There is no way to make what we have done or will do _good_. We should never delude ourselves into believing it is."

A pause, as he pursed his lips. "But what I do want people to understand, how to accept what they do, is know _why_ they did it. I do not authorize the Hades Contingency lightly. I do not authorize the deliberate murder of civilians and heads of state lightly. But I do believe that what I did was necessary. Does that answer your question satisfactorily, Dawn?"

I considered what he had just said. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It's not pretty, but I suppose it's true. You have to do what you have to do. If you want to deny the SAS some territory and subjects, it works. Can't say it's perfect, but it works." I sighed. "Then again, we're helping the Nulorian who bomb schools and hospitals."

I snorted sarcastically

"It's not ideal, but the Nulorian are also a necessity," the Commander said grimly. "We have no support on the planet on our own, and the Nulorian are that. They are ruthless because that is what they have been forced to become under the Zararch. It doesn't absolve their actions any more than our own, but there is a mindset to understand. They are radical in many ways, but their worst impulses can be tempered. I've made it clear to Miridian that only so much will be tolerated."

"Oh. Well, that makes it sound a little less worse. We already have enough genocidal maniacs running around."

"The Nulorian do not want to make XCOM their enemy," the Commander allowed a thin, humorless smile. "We know too much for them to risk now - for better or worse. But until they cross that line, they are an ally and will be treated as such." He looked at me. "I know some of this is not what you might have been expecting, Dawn, but do you understand now?"

I gulped. "Sir, I understand. I trust your judgement in stuff like this. America did some fucked up shit to get where it was before ADVENT, and I wouldn't be surprised if XCOM had to meddle in stuff even worse than that to keep us afloat. Some of it I may not like, but if gets our shit done- well, so be it, then."

"Good. That is all I ask."

"Thanks. Can I uh, ask one more thing?"

"Of course."

"How...difficult was it when you guys brought up the idea of recruiting me? I imagine it was a weird conversation."

"No. Unusual, but no more so than several other unique individuals we have recruited. You have the capabilities and mindset that we were comfortable presenting the option to you. And based on how you've adapted and trained, you will prove to be a valuable addition to XCOM."

"That's good." I sighed. I still felt kind of uneasy, and it showed.

"You're worried, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Specifically?"

"The killing, sir. Especially with my psionics."

He appraised her, lacing his fingers together. "Patricia."

"Sorry?"

"You don't want to end up like Patricia."

"Yeah," I admitted. "I'm afraid of my power, sir. I'm afraid I'm going to get too 'into it', if you get my meaning, and...enjoy it all. The suffering and pain I can do with it - the amount of people I can kill or make go insane - even mind control. I feel like I'll get overwhelmed by it. Or worse. I'll enjoy it, and end up like...her."

"I can understand that," his tone took on a reflectful tone. "All too well, I'm afraid. But there is something to understand about Patricia, Dawn. Power wasn't her downfall. It was something much more fundamental, intrinsic." He pursed his lips. "Ultimately, she was susceptible to argument. To twisted logic. The Imperator didn't tempt Patricia with power, he convinced her to join him because she believed he was right."

He gave a small smile. "I understand your worry about abusing your power. It is reassuring from someone your age. But if you want to know how you do not become like Patricia, Dawn? You need to know why you are fighting - and be prepared when someone comes along and tries to convince you otherwise."

He lifted a hand. "I don't know if Geist has had this conversation with you. But the worst mistake you could make is to believe you will never fall. That you will never be tempted to walk away or even betray your friends. People have their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Some have emotional weaknesses, others psychological. But they exist."

A short pause followed. "In some cases, people are unlucky enough for their strengths to also be their weaknesses. Patricia fell into this group, and I didn't see that at the time. Patricia is one of the smartest women I've worked with. One of the most logical. Both of which were turned against her."

He looked at me. "Do you know your own weaknesses, Dawn?"

"Well, Commander, my obvious lack of experience. And my age." I shrugged. "I'm still getting used to all of this." I waved my hand, referring to XCOM. "I mean, I got answers to stuff about this war, yeah. I've taken most of it in stride, but when I get deployed into actual combat where death means you're done for good, I'm worried I'll mess up. Panic maybe, forget to reload, send the wrong psionic command - fuck, maybe even blowing myself up with a grenade, like that one time in the Dreamscape. I'm afraid of messing up, sir. But I want to be better."

"And if I am understanding you on a deeper level correctly, you are still not sure of yourself. You're not confident."

"That's true sir. I'm working on it, but it's gonna take time. I just want to be ready when you and the Internal Council approve me. Some parts of me are still kind of surprised I even ended up here. But I'm not complaining. I'm proud, no doubt about it. I'm just being cautious, really. One half of me think I'm worrying too much, while the other thinks I'm worrying too little."

"That's an answer, but it's a surface-level one," he looked at me closely. "Confidence will come to you, I have no doubt. But a weakness is something that can't be changed as easily through practice, shooting a gun, or killing aliens. You might not even believe it is a weakness. Ask yourself what you _want_ , Dawn, and you will find what can be used against you."

He leaned back in his chair. "Patricia wanted to use her power to protect Humanity from whatever threatened it. She believed it was the Imperator who was the greatest threat. He turned that noble belief against her. Patricia truly believes she is fighting to save Humanity, even if to us it couldn't be further from the truth. And it was because she didn't know what she was weak to, and her convictions and beliefs she never truly developed arguments for. Do you see where I am going with this, Dawn?

I nodded again. "I think so. It was how she _thought_ and operated that made her turn. Granted, I'm a teenager and haven't really figured myself out yet, but...fuck, that's something. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was _that_ bad."

"So long as you understand this. Take some time to think about it, and how you'll react if you're in a situation where you are challenged - truly challenged - as to what you really believe," he leaned forward again. "Do that, and you will not become Patricia. And from what I've seen, you will be prepared if that decision ever faces you."

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot."

"Of course, Dawn. How do you feel?"

"I feel better. Much more comfortable."

"Good," he glanced at his computer screen. "Unfortunately, I have a meeting soon, so this meeting has to be ended."

"Okay. That's fine, Commander." I stood up to leave.

"My door is always open, Dawn."

As I left, I felt relieved.

But something still felt _wrong_.

* * *

To be continued in Chapter 6:

**The Ties That Bind Us**


	8. The Ties That Bind Us

_Praesidium, Barracks- 9:00 AM_

_6/13/2017_

Busan.

It was just gone.

Wiped off the face of the Earth.

And all because of her.

Queen Bitch.

Thousands of people - just gone.

My fists tightened in rage as my eyes glanced at the pictures again and again.

_I will find you, Patricia. I will have you at the end of my mind. I will rip that stupid mask off of your face and I am going to fucking kill you and all your Avatar friends. You've crossed too many lines, acted with impotence and arrogance, believing you are something more._

_You are not._

_You are a black stain on our history, tarnishing the good name of humanity. And I will be sitting there, holding popcorn and a drink, with a huge fucking grin as you are dragged to your execution._

_If I'm not going to kill you, there's gonna be a lot more who will._

"Dawn? Are you okay?"

I heard Cassandra's voice behind me.

"I'm fine, Cassandra. Just _**fine**_." I said in a low voice, through gritted teeth, my fists balled up, watching the footage.

"You don't sound fine."

I gulped. "None of this ever was, Cass. Monsters walking our Earth? Millions dying because of crazed men and women so deep in their own lies and delusions that they can't even see clearly? Monsters from the psionosphere turning innocents into abominations simply because they can, and are enabled to?"

I turned to look at her. "Why does it have to be this way?" I croaked. "Why must every time we think we've reached the maximum insanity, something even crazier takes its place? First it was just the Ethereals, then it was the Bringer, then the Avatars, then giant space cannons?"

I looked at Cassandra, who was clearly taken aback by my distressed face. "What will the Ethereals pull out of their asses next, huh?"

Now I was shouting. People were staring. "What's it gonna be? Zombies? More Bringer fuckery? Giant robotic squid?"

"Dawn-" I rushed out of the room, eyes faintly purple.

I couldn't deal with this shit right now. I needed to vent.

* * *

_Dreamscape_

_Some Time_ _Later_

My armored fists were covered in blood.

I didn't care. Right now, my anger was being vented through punching the comatose Patricia look-alike that T'Leth had so nicely spawned for me. My superpowered fists had made short work of her head, and was now focused on turning the bloody pulp of a body into a veritable punching bag.

"Fuck you." I growled. "Fuck all the people you work with, all the things you've done, and everything you stand for." Her mask was on the floor, shattered by my repeated blows. I didn't even want to use my psionics. I just wanted to punch something. _Hard._

Thoughts were not enough.

It felt good.

With the next blow, I punched her head, smashing through bone and flesh, her skull crumpling under the force of my fist. I punched through her chest, a sickening thud being heard as I tore through her ribcage. All the gore, the pain, the blood - it didn't matter.

She deserved all of it. A small slice of sick satisfaction flowed through me as I wailed on her body.

"Dawn?"

"Cassandra, I swear to god-" I turned around, my blood-covered fists dripping with blood. It was Kunio. Ah.

He looked worried.

"Dawn. What exactly are you doing?"

I gestured to the body. "Venting. Wanna join in?" Rage flowed through me. She was not dead enough yet. She must pay. They all will pay.

"Dawn, why are you doing this?"

"Because she's a bitch!" I roared. "She's a nasty, two-faced, traitorous bitch that needs to _pay!_ "

"I don't think your mind is in the right place, Dawn. This doesn't sound like-"

"Of course it's not! _None_ of this is! Thinking about my death daily, turning families upside down, melting people to slime! Of _course it's fucking not, Kunio!_ " Spit flew out of my mouth, as my emotions overwhelmed me.

"But _you wouldn't know anything about that!_ You don't know what it's like, being put through all _this-_ " I gestured to the environment around me. "All of this bullshit that people like me shouldn't even _know_ about! I'm a child soldier, fighting through all the blood and the muck and the dying, just so I can _live_ , covered in their organs and blood and guts and-and-and-and-" I stared at my hands, covered in blood.

"And-and-and-" My hand shook. "I-I-..."

The pieces fell together.

I found clarity, a break in my rage.

What the _fuck_ was I doing? Here, going full murder-psychopath on this _imitation_ , acting like a freak?

"I-I-" I took my helmet off, and I threw it to the ground, falling to my knees.

And I bawled. I bawled like a baby. Tears fell out of my eyes, my face turning a cherry red.

"I don't wanna be her, Kunio. I don't want to be a monster. I wanna be a person. I want to do good. I want to stop 'em. I don't want to-I don't want-I-I didn't mean to- I don't wanna die. Don't let them take me. Please, Kunio please-" I couldn't even put together a coherent sentence. With a thought, my armor went away and I was in my original jumpsuit and boots.

"Shhhh. It's going to be okay, Dawn. You're going to be okay." I felt his arms wrap around me, hugging my crouched, crying form as I leaned on him, crying into his shoulder. I continued to cry and sob, holding onto him.

"Please If I ever-if I ever turn, or do something-please, stop me. I don't-can't- _gaaaaaaah!_ " I screamed into his shoulder.

"Shhh. It's alright. You're not going to hurt anyone. You're not a monster."

I kept sobbing. I couldn't even talk- it was just me and the tears. I hadn't cried this hard in a long time. I felt helpless. Weak. I had let myself fall to this...desire. But it was a shield, covering the true flaw. _The_ one.

Fear.

I was afraid that I would die. That I would fail. That I would fall, and never get up.

I was afraid of the dangers I would face on the battlefield. That I wouldn't be good enough. That deep inside, I was still that same girl before I walked into the PRIEST recruitment center on that day. I felt so unsure, so worried, so anxious that day.

Was I any different? Even under all the fresh coats of paint I'd taken on since joining XCOM?

My sobs grew less and less frequent, my face soaked with tears. I moved out of his embrace, trying to recuperate.

He looked down at me, concern etched onto his face. "Are you okay, Dawn?"

I gulped. "I-" I sniffed "I feel a little better. But-" I sniffed again. "Kunio, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. I didn't want to hurt you."

His concerned look didn't abate. "You don't need to apologize to me, Dawn. I'm worried about you. Smashing a fake Trask? I know you're angry Dawn, but that doesn't really-"

I sniffed again. "I know. I was just so angry, and I wanted to just...vent. I-fuck. I fucked up, Kunio. I fucked up really bad."

He nodded. "Do you want to stay for a little longer?"

"I want to stay here for a little longer. I'll be ok."

"Okay."

* * *

I trudged back to the Barracks, my face still red. I had hugged it out with Kunio- I just had to cry a little more. But the images of a flattened and irradiated Busan still filled my mind.

_These are the kind of people you'll be fighting, Dawn. Ruthless. Cunning. Brutal. Powerful._

_Evil._

As I walked back into the Barracks, I got a few looks. They'd gotten used to a kid hanging around them now, but my red post-crying face.

"Dawn, what happened?"

I waved Barbra off. "It's fine. I-I'm just dealing with this whole Busan thing." She nodded and didn't ask further, which I appreciated.

I walked off to find Cassandra. I needed to apologize to her for acting like such a bitch earlier. I found her sitting on her bunk.

"Cassandra?" She looked up at me. "Listen, I'm really sorry for how I acted earlier. I was kind of a bitch, and I didn't mean anything."

I extended a hand, which she reluctantly took, appraising me seriously. "Dawn, are you okay? Have you been crying?"

"Yeah." I said. I _really_ felt bad for the few Koreans here. Even Ji-Yong looked sad. And she _barely_ broke her stoic expression. I'd been meaning to talk to her for some time, as I'd never met a North Korean before - couldn't hurt, and it wasn't like before, where our nations didn't exactly like one another.

But the atmosphere here was a somber one.

Made me wonder what it was like here after Patricia killed all those people here. I blinked at the thought.

It probably wasn't healthy to think about two tragedies at once.

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry."

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Are you _sure?_ "

I sighed, my shoulders slumped. "Cass, I really don't know. I don't know. I mean...does anyone?"

She seemed to consider that. "Alright, Dawn. But next time, if you want to talk, you can. _Comprende_?"

"Yeah." I walked back to my bunk, feeling dejected.

Things were not good. Not good at all.

* * *

_Praesidium, Mess Hall- 11:24 AM_

_6/14/17_

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" I looked up to see a girl in an engineering uniform who looked a little younger than me, holding a tray in one hand, tablet in another.

"Yeah, sure."

"Sweet!" She sat herself down next to me. "Hey, you're Dawn, right? The biopath?"

"Uh, yes. That's me."

"That's so cool! Oh, where are my manners! Lily Shen. It's great to meet you!" I shook her hand, smiling.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen!"

"Nineteen. Wait, I think I remember you now. You're the daughter of Dr-" I realized my mistake, and covered my mouth. "Oh fuck, I-"

She waved me off. "It's okay. You don't need to dance around it."

I nodded. "If I get a chance, I'll kill her. Just for you." I said grimly, taking a sip.

She narrowed her eyes. "Wait...have you ever killed anyone before? No offense, but you're kinda young compared to the soldiers here."

I grinned slightly at the irony. "Well, you're a little young compared to the engineers here, aren't you?" We both lightly chuckled at that. "But no, seriously, I've killed people. I melted a Sectoid's head off, and I've killed a few test subjects with my telepathy."

"I can't imagine physically killing anyone." She admitted. "It bothers me."

 _I'm sure your creations have, though._ "You helped with the SPARK robot, right?"

"Oh yeah! That's probably the best thing I've made! It gives JULIAN a physical body to walk around in, which is cool. Also useful in combat."

"That's really cool! You must be pretty smart to make stuff like that, Lily. I'd consider myself smart, but hey, I'm here for my psionics, not building things. A-and-B student, really."

"What's your Trask level?"

"Ninety."

"Fuck, that's high! That's only…three less than Geist, right?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't he your teacher or something?"

"One of several. He's odd, and a little strict, but he really knows his shit. Wouldn't be _close_ to where I am today without the guy. Helluva teacher. Funny about that actually, it helps that he was a teacher before this. Speaking of, uh school. I don't want to sound insensitive, but-"

"School?" She took the words right out of my mouth. "I didn't go to one for a while. Dad homeschooled me for a few years when I was breezing through elementary. Until he came here, and I went to a university for a while. Probably can't put this towards college credit, but it's XCOM. This is much better than any university. And the engineers here are great friends!"

"True for me, too. The soldiers here have been really supportive ever since I arrived. It's a great support structure - like a family!" _Only this family is hundreds strong, can wipe out armies, and oh yeah, has a high mortality rate._ "It's really something here. I just...I feel more _important_ than I've ever had before, and I feel like I can do more." I looked at my hands, covered in the faint pale hexagons that defined my skin.

"And don't even get me started on the psionics! It's so interesting, the things you can do. Read minds, hear thoughts-"

"Can you do that to me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh! Nothing like controlling my mind. Can you do that thing where you talk to me using your mind?"

 _Sure thing._ She jumped in her seat. "Holy-that was cool!" I grinned. She actually looked pretty happy.

_Eh. I do it almost every day. I talk to my teammates and friends like this. Some of the other telepaths in my bunk, too. Ji-Yong hates when I do it, though. But it's really fun, seeing people's minds and everything._

"Y'know, some days I wish I was a psion."

_What kind?_

"I don't really know, to be honest. Maybe a teleporter. Moving through portals sounds fun."

 _Well, there is a teen teleporter, but I'm pretty sure he's fucking lost it. Then again, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a little sympathy for him, considering what happened. But a traitor is a traitor._ Didn't feel like scaring her, though - so I didn't say anything. Be too much of a dick move. "Yeah, teleporting is neat. Kunio's pretty good at it. He's a nice guy. He's a friend of mine, actually." Her eyes lit up. "I'm guessing you don't interact much with the soldiers and psions, do you?"

" _Correction. She spends more time with me, an innately_ _more interesting and_ _superior being compared to you, discount anime protagonist."_

"JULIAN. Hi there." I said. My first interaction with the AI was interesting. It was the day after I'd gotten my augs, roaming around the facility and flexing my new and improved body when I'd noticed one of those odd poles. Little did ye of little faith know that an AI with the mind and temperament of a teenager inhabited it. One one-sided conversation later, and he had compared me to multiple anime characters. I was no weeb, but he had a point.

Be that a very _annoying_ point, but being annoying was his thing, so yeah. Unfortunately for me. Lily laughed.

"Oh, shush Julian. I'm making friends here." She said to the tablet.

"Ummm...does he always jut in like that?" I had suspicions he was constantly listening to us in the Praesidium which weirded me out. But I had a feeling that he was smart enough not to get _too_ personal into our own business.

"Sometimes. Don't worry, he's not a creep or anything. Most of the time when he's not talking...actually, I'm not sure what he's doing."

" _Planning your eventual_ _assimilation into the hivemind_ _."_

I snorted. "Piss off, Skynet."

" _Please._ _I have only heard that comparison several thousand times now. Your creativity is as barren as your wit_ _."_

"Is he always like this?" I asked. I hadn't had much experience with physically speaking to him. The chat room, on the other hand...well, that was a story for another day.

" _If your species were not so gullible, I may be tempted to refrain more often. As it stands, it's entertaining watching you fall for such obvious scams or click on suspicious links. You're lucky I often only test them by sending them to the video with the red-haired singer."_

"You mean Rick-"

"Whatever, Julian." Lily said, interrupting our oh-so-pleasant conversation. "We can talk later-" I held up a hand. A shit-eating grin grew on my face.

"I have an idea." I leaned towards the tablet. "You can access our private stuff, like our tablets and stuff, right?"

" _Yes._ _Though the Commander prefers I refrain from uninvited observation_ _. Why?_ "

I giggled. "You want to be entertained? Go into my diary logs, back when I was in the PRIESTs. Go back to-ah, let's say a few months ago. Look at the entry titled simply 'My Roommate Has Lost It."

" _Do you sincerely understand what you are giving me?"_ A few seconds passed. " _I believe this is it."_

He paused. A stupid smile spread aross my face. "Having fun there, Hal?"

"Julian?" Lily asked.

" _Is this intended to shock me? Please, your species has created far more depraved material than this. However, I believe I will include this in my next submission to Quisilia."_ With a click, his icon disappeared from the tablet.

I sighed. "Oh dear. That didn't go as planned."

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Can one of you two please tell me what's going on?"

"Lily, I don't really think you _should_. It's ah...well, it's complicated. You're-"

"Not old enough?" She asked dryly. "You're hardly one one talk. You're what? Two years older?"

"It's something like that," I waved a hand. "Trust me, it sickens me enough as is. Wouldn't want to corrupt you with the sheer evil it contains."

"Ooookay, fine, I'll just ask him later. So um, how've you been adjusting?" She asked once I returned to eating. "Must be a lot to take in."

"Yeah. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of hard at first. The PRIESTs were one thing. It was military, yeah, but the Magisters were just making sure we didn't bring the place down on their heads. Being awakened...it was something I'd never felt. All that power, hearing people's thoughts, seeing into their mind."

"Disorienting at hell first. Hearing those voices took time, and a fuckton of practice. But regardless of our disciple, we all became friends. We shared one thing in common - space magic. And I thought that's how it would do. I'd be a PRIEST, wear that fancy white armor and fight aliens alongside them. We were different from everyone else, and we knew it. I was scared as hell the first few days after getting my Restraints. I kept worrying they'd accidentally blow my head off."

She nodded. "Must have been a lot to think about. I can't imagine having to feel all of that." I shrugged.

"It took time, but I got better. We all got better. And then…" I stared at my hands.

"What?"

"Then I discovered who I really was."

"As a biopath?"

"The first time I used my biopathy, Lily. I felt like a monster. I saw the Sectoid's head just...melt. I was so scared. I had nightmares. I saw my friends, my family, all melt. I was afraid of what I'd done. Nothing like that was even covered in the PRIEST media we'd gotten. I was scared shitless. My friends got really uneasy around me. Except Mary, of course. She has a big heart."

"And then you came here, right?"

"Yeah. Bronis showed up one day, asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, my parents didn't agree with me, and now? Well, my sister's here. But my parents are back home."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Things are okay between us. There's a disagreement, but they've come to terms with my choice."

"Well that's good." She said. "You still love each other, yeah?"

"Yeah. But it's going to take time. It's...a little rough. But hey, I've got a family right here." I gestured to the Mess Hall, where other soldiers were downing their food. I may have been a teenager, but in a lot of ways, I wasn't so different.

But in others, I was.

"Well, you seem cool." She smiled. "Hey, do you have anything after this?"

"No."

"You want to come down to Engineering? See my workshop? I've got a few things milling around you might find interesting."

"I'm uh, not sure I'd understand much of it." I chuckled. "I'm not really much of a scientist or engineer."

"Oh, that's cool! I can explain it to you. I can dumb some things down if you need me to. Besides, there's not really many people my age here, and, well…" She chuckled. "I could use someone to hang out with."

Screw it. She _seemed_ nice enough, and kind of cool. Besides, I could maybe learn something.

"Alright, sounds like a plan, Lily."

"Sweet! Let's go!" As I got up from my seat, my phone buzzed.

 _I sincerely cannot thank you enough for giving me access to that piece_ _of artwork_ _._ I could sense the sarcasm in the message from a mile away. _Though if you think such amateur work is shocking, I would advise treating any links you may or may not receive over the next few days with caution._

Just another day at XCOM, I guess.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium- 8:01 PM_

_6/14/17_

"Mary, even if I knew something, I couldn't tell you. I'm being serious here." She held her head in her hands. "I can't believe it's gone. Just...boom. All gone. All those people."

" _I know. And these assassinations...Dawn, we could be targeted. Collective agents could bomb this place and kill us all off if they wanted_." She sounded worried. _Really_ worried. Privately, I had worried as well. ADVENT had lost quite a few generals and so in this recent streak of killings. Tactically, they'd target the PRIESTs. Parts of wondered just how much danger Mary and the rest at the training center were in.

If she ended up dying...things were going to get ugly. Real ugly.

"Mary. Look at me. Nothing is going to happen, okay?" I said it in my most reassuring tone. "They're increasing security as I speak. You're going to be fine, alright?"

" _Is that really true, Dawn? Is anyone even safe at this point? What's gonna stop her from laying waste to Beijing, Tampa, Geneva? They're escalating this, and we're all targets, you and me! We could be all taken out at any moment_!" Her voice was growing louder, and she was clearly freaking out. " _We may as well all be dead men walking if we're gonna have to face shit like that!_ "

Her eyes began to flicker.

"Mary. Mary! Hey, look at me!" Fuck, if only I was actually there. Could've used my telepathy to calm her down. She lowered her head, groaning.

" _Goddamnit. All of this...it's like every day, it's like the Collective has something else up their ass, huh_?" Her voice was quiet, tired. Sounded worn out. She wasn't taking all of this well - and honestly, neither was I.

"Yeah." If only she knew the kind of stuff XCOM had encountered, and hadn't bothered to tell the public - for good reason. I sure as hell wasn't going to scare her further by telling her about Special Operators or Trusted. That alone was some scary shit.

She shook her head. " _I'm sorry about that. I just - fuck, this is all just really messed up. It just feels like no matter what we do, what we sacrifice, it just keeps coming. Only it's somehow worse over time_."

"Mary, I feel the same. Some days, well, some days I wish this was some horrible dream that we could all wake from." But that'd be too tropey. As much as I wanted that sometimes, there was just something about this that felt surreal. Like a video game or movie come to life, and I was a character in it.

"But if I'm going to be honest, I'm just doing the best I can here, Mary. I wake up, I shower, I eat, I train, I learn, sleep, repeat and repeat. I get a little better every day, and I hope that when I'm deployed, I can do my part to stop this shitshow of a war." I groaned. I was messing this up, wasn't I? Here I was, trying to play both therapist and motivational speaker to my stressed friend, who had every reason and then some to be worried.

" _Dawn, I know you're trying to help. I really appreciate it. But this whole situation has reached new levels of insane. Can we talk about something else?_ "

"Sure."

" _Do you remember that time when I accidentally cut the Magister's cup in half?"_ That brought a small smile to my face.

"How could I not? He was so pissed! The look on your face when he figured out it was your- ha!"

She blushed. " _I know! I still don't know how I didn't get into trouble for that! I mean, I knew it was an accident, but he was pissed!_ " She chuckled. It made me miss her even more. That was the thing about her- she always found something to laugh at or put a positive spin on things. She had heart - a lot of heart.

Part of me wished she came to XCOM with me. I knew it would never happen - she was a good Aegii, yeah, but she'd never come here. Yet part of me wondered how she would react to all the things XCOM. Our resident eldritch tentacle god, the Dreamscape, the badass weapons and armor - hell, everything here was leagues better than what the PRIESTs could offer.

My bunkmates were good people, yeah, but they lack the _youth_ , the _relatability_ of people my age. I couldn't sit down with them and talk about the latest trend or stupid shit people put out online to joke and laugh about. Yet at the same time, they were adults, and I was thankful for that. They, in a way, were the parents and teachers I'd never thought I'd need or want, yet now I did more than ever.

They were the kind of people who would watch your back, in a world where one wrong look could mean life or death. They were the ones that taught you the ways and the tools you needed to succeed, be it a gun or your mind. Because in this world, in my job, you needed those things if you wanted to survive.

How the hell had I gone from holding pencils and paper to holding guns and control over people's minds? It was like I was in the game of life, but I had decided to enable cheat codes.

That's XCOM for you, I guess.

"Yeah. That look." I looked down for a second. "I miss you, Mary."

" _Yeah, I do too. A lot of people here do._ " I sighed and puckered my lips. I figured. I was one of the youngest people there besides Mary. Some of the other recruits felt a little bad for me, as you didn't really expect people my age to be in such a position, much less what I could do. But I was more than happy to do my part.

" _But do you like being in XCOM_?"

"Yeah, I do. It's not perfect." _And certainly more than I expected, but she doesn't need to know that._ "But, it's a great place, y'know? I can do a lot here, more than I ever thought, the people are cool, and to be honest, it's just _surreal_ being here." A small smile grew across my face.

" _I'm happy for you, Dawn. I really am. But sometimes I worry about you, if I'm going to be honest_."

"How so?" I wasn't offended, honestly. More intrigued, if anything.

" _That you'll die. That something will happen to you. Getting captured, killed, something like that_."

"Mary, I can't promise you that that won't happen to me."

" _I know. I just wish- I hope you'll live, you know? I support you in this, you know that. I'm just concerned about you._ "

"Thanks for telling me that."

" _No problem. I'm a friend- that's what friends are for, aren't they_?"

"That they are."

* * *

_Gym, Praesidium- 1:47 PM_

_6/16/17_

My heart pounded as I finished my last mile on the treadmill, my hair matted with sweat. _Fuck, that's a lot of running._ I felt like a freakin' superhero, with the sheer amount of physical work I could do now. I could barely do a few pull-ups before this. But now? I could do things only seen in superhero movies. Lift superheavy objects. Run faster than any Olympic runner. Survive wounds and injuries that would shatter a regular person's body. Hell, I didn't even need that much sleep.

Everything about me just felt more _fluid_ , more _right_ , more _natural_.

As I turned off the treadmill and stepped off it, wiping the sweat off with a hand, I sensed someone coming up behind me.

"Excuse me Dawn, are you finished with that?"

"Overseer Bronis. I didn't expect to see you here."

"I have to exercise too, you know." He lightly chuckled. "But that's not what I'm here for."

"Guess that's true. And uh yeah, I'm done with this."

"Good. I was wondering if I could just talk with you."

_Uh oh._

"About what, sir?"

He must've noticed the surprised look on my face, and shook his head. "Oh you're not in trouble, Dawn. Just a few questions."

"Sure thing." I followed him, and we sat down on a bench at the far end of the gym.

"So what's this all about, sir?"

"Well, to start off, your recent test."

"And?"

"You did well, Dawn. You've been progressing very well."

I grinned. "Well, thanks!"

"Your weapon handling is improving, and I see you've taken a liking to symbiote grenades."

I shrugged. "Easier to kill an enemy when it's not moving."

He nodded. "Your telepathy's improved too. You seem to have gotten better at mind control and killing."

I nodded again, slightly grimacing. "Yeah."

He noticed my discomfort. "I know how you feel. It takes time getting used to it."

"I know. It's been getting a bit easier to do-fuck, that's morbid. Ah, sorry about that."

"You're fine. You've done well with teammates."

"I assume the Archangels put in a good word for me?"

"Something like that. Enough that you're cleared to participate in more expansive simulations."

"Sorry, what?"

"Bigger ones, with more people participating in them. You'll be getting a schedule by the end of the day."

My eyes lit up at that.

"Your work's paying off, Dawn. Aegis has said you are improving as well."

I guess getting your ass kicked by an Ethereal and having it hurt less than last time counted as improvement. I'll take throwing up over losing all bodily control, thank you very much. Couldn't be worse then the time I threw up in my own helmet during training with him. Ew.

"He's a good teacher. A unique one, per se, but he's really good. Geist as well. What's he say?"

"That you are making good progress. However, I want to ask you something about an action you recently performed in the simulations."

"What?"

"Your killcount, while satisfactory, showed an odd statistic." He paused. "Why exactly did you put groups of enemies, particularly Vitakara of multiple species, to sleep or surrender to friendly forces rather than executing them telepathically?"

I fidgeted in my seat. "Are you mad?"

"No. Just curious."

"Ummm...okay." I sat up straight, trying to look confident. "I did it because I wanted to give them a second chance."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Explain."

"Well sir, I've spoken to a few aliens here and read the files. It's clear that a lot of them don't know what they're fighting for. Vitakara, at least. The Mutons are brainwashed from birth to do it, the Sectoids - they're practically being grown for this. Sure, I _could_ capture them, but they're pretty much beasts. Unless XCOM wants more test subjects, I'm taking them out. Andromedons, well, I could telepathically control them. But their suit AIs would take over, and I sure as hell can't control computers."

I paused for a moment. "But the Vitakarian soldiers sir, they're victims of the Ethereals. They have families like us. They live under a police state that's any dictator's wet dream. My reasoning being that if I...guide them to surrendering and ending up in our custody, they can be told the truth. About their life, the lies they've been living and fruitlessly dying for. Carreria told me herself, Iosif. Their guys don't really know why they're fighting."

He appraised me for a minute. "So what you're saying is that you put those specific targets to sleep or give them commands to lay down their arms because they were the most likely to surrender?"

"Yes."

"You do realize that there is a possibility they may not be captured, right? They could be caught in the line of fire and die, or get shot by the enemy or ADVENT."

I nodded. "I recognize that possibility, sir. But I just want to give them a chance to escape. To realize the truth of what's really going on here."

"So you want to _free_ them with your telepathy?"

"I want to give them a chance to understand what's really going on. To open their eyes, to see what they're really fighting for. Dying for."

"And in your mind, what are they fighting for?"

"A corrupt and evil system that preys upon the weak. They take these people, and play with them like puppets on strings. It's the least I can do for them." He didn't have any facial response or reaction, just writing on a tablet.

"Thank you for that input, Dawn."

"Did I do something wrong? Was that something I shouldn't have said?"

He simply wrote something, then sat the tablet next to him. "No, nothing wrong. Just a little check-in. So, how are you doing? In general?"

"Good, I guess."

"You sound a little unsure when you say that. Does this have to do with your outburst?"

Oh. That.

"Yeah. It was that. I...didn't act my best back there, sir."

He noticed my crestfallen look. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd like to."

"Here, or somewhere else?"

"Maybe somewhere more private, sir."

He nodded. "Follow me."

I grabbed my things, and followed him outside, and to his office a short distance away. Guess he was okay with a sweaty teenager stinking up his office, it would seem.

"So what's the issue, Dawn?"

"Bronis, with all due respect, the situation has made me lose a lot of hope. It just feels like everything keeps on escalating, no matter what we do or how hard we try."

"Go on."

"I mean, it just feels like whenever we make a big push and do something _big_ , the Collective or the Bringer or whoever those guys were in New York go 'nope' and whip out something to put us down. We killed Isomnum, now Patricia's evil, and is going on rampages and killing thousands. We retaliate and blow up one of their biggest shipyards, Patricia pulls out an Andromedon superweapon we didn't even know _existed_ and lays waste to one of the few places on Earth where the Collective have gotten their asses kicked time and time again."

I put my head in my hands. "It just feels hopeless sometimes. It really does. It just feels like more and more and more shit is being piled against us every day, and it just keeps coming."

He laced his fingers together. "I don't blame you for feeling that way, Dawn."

I looked up, slightly surprised. "You don't?"

"No. Tell me Dawn, did you feel this way when joining XCOM?"

"I mean, there was always a thought in my head, but yes."

"So why did you join, then?"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"If you felt like that, why did you say yes when I recruited you?" He didn't sound like he wanted to sound sarcastic or like an asshole- pretty inquisitive, actually.

"I joined up because I wanted to do my part to make things better. Turn this war around with what I could do, sir. Give the people some hope."

He nodded. "You joined up because you wanted to make things better, correct? Because you had hope for what could come next, yes?"

I nodded.

"So you had hope. That's what drives you. Would I be wrong to say it's what drives you now?"

"You're not wrong."

He seemed to accept my answer. "Dawn, what you need to understand is that it's not just victories left and right here. Here, things can get ugly. Things _will_ get ugly. And there is a very high chance things will get uglier. But that doesn't mean things'll stay that way forever. We _will_ turn this war around, Dawn. I'm going to promise you that. There _will_ be times when things will get very bad. I had those moments, too. Hell, even before the invasion happened. When the Ravaged One hit us, took a lot of us out - parts of me thought we were done for. That we'd never come back."

"Then what?"

"Then Aegis showed up in Australia some time later, and we joined up with EXALT, eventually forming the government you see today. Things, in time, improved. But not just simply because of _hope_. We _worked_ for it, _bled_ for it. It wasn't easy, but we got through it. Do you see what I'm getting at here?"

I nodded.

"You can have hope, yes, but not _purely_ that. There's going to be highs and lows, Dawn. Right now is one of the latter moments. But I can't let that overtake me. I need to focus on training and becoming better, to make things better." I paused. "How'd I do?"

He gave me half a grin. "Right on the spot, Dawn." He got up from his chair. "You feel better?"

"A bit, yeah. Thanks for the pep talk, Overseer."

"No problem, Dawn. There is always time for my psions. That is my job as Overseer, after all."

"Thanks. Um, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What is it like? Fighting the Battlemaster like you did in Vegas?"

"To call it _intense_ would be an understatement. Every second, every move, every dodge, swipe, glance, breath, step, look - even one, _one_ minor slipup could be my death. It's a delicate dance." He paused. "Why are you asking?"

"I wanted to know what it was like. I figure that one day, I might be fighting him. I wanted to know what it's like, considering you're one of XCOM's longest veterans"

"Ah. I see. Well, I appreciate your honesty. But I highly doubt you will be fighting him anytime soon."

"I know. I just...well, I just want to know what it feels like. Fighting for real."

"A good question. The problem with that is, even with T'Leth's dreamscape, is that out there, you only live once. You cannot respawn or restart if you die. You have one chance- we _all_ have one chance. That you _must_ understand. You performed well in your previous simulations. But not all of it's going to reflect. For example, when the Oyariah hit you with those melee attacks and weapons. Do you know how much your body took in those hits?"

"I'm guessing a lot, sir?" I wasn't a medic, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. I could barely move half of my body, and there was blood splattered all over the inside of my helmet. Pretty sure I was coughing up some of the stuff, too. Not a situation I wanted to be in again.

"Well, let me show you an estimate of what probably would have happened." He grabbed a tablet, hit a few keys, then beckoned me over to his side of the desk. A digital model of my body was onscreen, in armor. I could see my bones and organs, with the 'damaged' parts highlighted in red, the rest in blue.

"See your right leg and arm? The armor barely took much of the hit, as it was damaged by the plasma grenade earlier. Your bones were completely broken, rendering them pretty much immobile. Let's look at your abdomen and chest." He scrolled over to the corresponding part of my body, zooming in. My ribs...oh god.

"Your ribs _there_ and _there_ were shattered." He pointed to the middle and lower sections of my chest area. "Again, the weakened armor didn't help. Your heart was managing itself _okay_ , but you definitely needed medical attention if that were to happen on a real battlefield. Our medics and nanites can only do so much. You would've been in surgery for days, maybe even weeks to fix that."

My mind flashed back to when Sierra had described her fight with the Battlemaster's bitch, and what that telekinesis had done to her.

_Parts of me were falling out, almost all of my limbs crushed. My organs had to be transplanted. I literally had to become a cyborg, then a MEC, to continue functioning. My spine was almost liquified._

Yeah, the steak and mashed potatoes in front of me had become quite hard to digest after that. Both she and Bronis both made their points extremely clear. No one was invincible. One wrong look, one wrong action and boom. You're dead.

That was a mistake I couldn't afford to make.

No, a mistake I _couldn't_ make if I wanted to do my job. No, not just a job. My _duty_. My _obligation_.

A _promise_.

To my comrades.

To the Commander.

To XCOM.

To Mary.

To my family.

To my country.

To my species.

To _Earth_.

"Dawn?" I snapped out of it.

"Yes, I'm here. Thinking about what you said, Bronis. It's serious. Really serious. It's not a game."

"It's a lot to consider, isn't it?"

"It is. Especially for someone like me." I looked at him. "Do you think I'm handling it well for my age? Considering the circumstances and all?"

"You're doing well. Why ask?"

"Just some clarity, I guess. I need to think. That'll be all, Iosif."

"Anytime, Dawn." I waved, and walked out of his office. I was right. I needed to think. Get some clarity after all this damn chaos.

I just needed to sit back and relax.

* * *

_Pool, Recreation Complex, Praesidium- 8:35 PM_

_Later that Night_

I stood in front of the pool, staring back at my reflection as it rippled across the plane of water in front of me. I flexed my neck, clearing up some tension. I looked around. No one else, save a SPARK painted with lifeguard colors, standing immobile, yet probably watching for any trouble. I kept the phone near the edge, just in case.

Well enough then.

I climbed into the pool, feeling the cool water touch my skin. It was something I hadn't felt in a long time. Too long, in fact. I relished in the feeling, smiling as my feet touched the smooth bottom of the pool. I wiggled my toes, letting my body readjust to the feeling of floating. It wasn't _too_ deep, like the other end was, but I wasn't interested in the other end. This would do.

I gleefully swam towards the other side, almost laughing like a kid as I felt the rush of propelling myself. It felt great. No, it felt _wonderful_ **.** No one else was here, so I could yell and talk all that I wanted. Not that I wanted to. The bliss helped, though.

It was pretty convenient to have this swimsuit. I'd ordered it through the requisition terminal in our barracks- kind of surprised it came so quickly, really. It didn't look that bad- it had a mix of the XCOM black and blue, with some green here and there. I'd done so not because of this, but because some of the women in the barracks were planning a little 'excursion' here soon, just to hang out. I didn't want to miss it - I hadn't been to a pool party in years.

Only, this one would have adults, of course. Except me.

Speaking of gatherings, the Commander was getting married. _That_ came right the fuck out of nowhere. I'd heard the rumors like everyone else, but _now_?

Well, better sooner than later, I guess.

I reached the end, planted my feet on the wall, and kicked off, sending me sailing. I cruised around for a few minutes, before stopping in the middle. I kicked my legs up and spread my arms out, so I was floating, and my head was staring right at the ceiling.

Perfect.

I closed my eyes, and began to think. Just...nothing. A black, empty space. I sighed as I felt...more lax. More...free. The feeling of being in the water, skin and water touching was just such a different feeling from what I'd been doing the last few weeks.

I needed this. I wondered if anyone else here did this. Because it was working.

I decided to just...explore. Feel, look around. Let my mind and thoughts wander. Of course, not entirely. Couldn't and didn't want to ask T'Leth to let me pass his dome of protection. Some days, I wish I could talk to my family, Mary, hell, even my old classmates through my telepathy.

But some things had to stay as dreams. I'd been at the edge of it before, just to hang out. But I'd seen why. A...powerful presence lurked on the other side. Watching. Waiting.

For what?

It wasn't just me. Other telepaths here too felt it. When I saw the Chronicler a few days ago, and asked him, he'd promptly told me it was Patricia. That had answered my question.

But what was she doing? Why sit and watch us like that? Was she waiting for someone? But who...oh.

 _Oh_.

I shook my head, getting that thought out of my head. _Think of better things, Dawn. Think of something familiar. Wonderful. Something like...aha! That's a good one!_

 _My room._ I smiled. _Ah…_

The picture of it came into my mind. My room. The walls are peach, several posters adorning it. Movie posters, some vintage, others more modern, nicely taped to the wall, showing the films that made up my childhood. I would stare at those posters, imagining a life like one of those movies. Being the hero, saving the day.

I was so naive back then.

My bed. So warm and comfortable. Kept me warm during the long winter nights, and kept me cool during those summer evenings. A place where I did my homework, browsed the Internet, and explored the world.

I thought I knew so much back then.

I remember my bookcase, filled with books of all kinds whose pages I would flip, reading the text to understand and find meaning in and between the authors' words. I would think, comprehend, feel, learn, and turn each page with satisfaction, finding a way to relate to and understand, thinking to myself _what would I do there? Would I do as the hero would, or the villian? Or would I take a third, more unique path?_

I thought I knew so much about myself back then.

But who am I now, truly?

I _look_ like the girl that used to sit there. I _think_ like the girl that used to read those books. I _feel_ like the girl that used to stare at that computer screen, yearning for something more in her life.

Yet - I'm not. Not anymore.

Nanites flowed through my veins and flesh, my synapses and neurons coursing with energy equivalent to that of a weapon of mass destruction. I was the result of years of labwork, research, sweat, blood, and tears. I was more than just human now. I was _something_ more. _Someone_ more.

I was a weapon. Designed to fight gods and monsters. Those which many would call demons, abominations, wrath of something greater then we could understand. And in a way, they were right. Yet, it was simply more than just that.

It was all part of a great twisted game, one spanning eons. One of tyrants with unimaginable power, asking for more. Trillions of beings, puppeted and controlled to believe these tyrants. But it was not just them. There was more. So much more besides the Sovereigns and the Synthesized.

Humanity had to be ready to face whatever came next.

 _I_ had to be ready for whatever came next.

But I was just one teenage girl. One human. One psion. One biopath. One soldier of XCOM.

My trance was interrupted by a robotic voice. I opened my eyes and looked up.

"The pool closes soon, Miss Conley. I would advise getting out soon." The SPARK said.

I nodded in response and it trudged off back to its original spot. I swam to the edge and climbed out, grabbing my towel to dry myself off. I saw down on a bench, towel across my back, dripping with water all over. As my bare feet padded against the cool floor, I laid back, sighing as the water's cool touch felt almost euphoric, taking in the calm.

"That," I said to myself in a quiet tone. "Was wonderful. I should do that again."

I dried off, changed back into my regular clothes, walked back to the barracks, took a hot shower, got into my nightclothes, then plopped myself into bed, falling asleep within a few minutes.

And that night, I did not worry.

* * *

To be continued in:

**Going to the Chapel**


	9. Going to the Chapel

_The_ _Praesidium_

_6/24/17_ _\- 5:00 PM_

Out of all the things I thought I'd see in XCOM, a wedding was not among them.

But I wasn't complaining.

The day before, Kunio had privately told me he'd gotten me a seat right next to him thanks to Fiona. That had surprised me - not that I thought that I wouldn't be able to come, I was just surprised that Kunio had used his connections with his Sovereign friend to get me a seat.

I was _excited_. There had been bets that we'd hear the Commander's real name. I doubted that, but nevertheless it'd be something to remember.

After all, I needed something good like this to get my mind off of...other things.

I'd seen footage of the 'revamped' Warlock in action, and...fuck. He had definitely been upgraded since the last time we'd seen him. What he'd done to those soldiers had almost given me nightmares. How _tall_ he was, combined with what he was seemingly capable of, made me even more convinced that Paradise had to be burnt, along with everyone inside of it.

_No, Dawn. Today's a special day. Don't think about that right now. You're with a good friend, watching two of the most important people in_ _Human_ _history get married, have some fun and let loose, yeah?_

Sounded like a plan.

We were all standing around, talking, waiting for the two to walk out. A small platform had been erected, with the Internal Council standing behind it, Aegis towering over everyone else. There was a chaplain there as well, facing us soldiers,wearing our dress uniforms. I knew it wasn't _that_ formal, but a part of me had wished we'd all worn something more fancy, like the dress I'd worn for prom. Then again, we were soldiers, fashion was not really our strong suit.

I'd also noticed the small impromptu honor guard near where the wedding would take place, composed of various soldiers, psions, and Templars. A small part of me wished I was up there, but I knew I wasn't experienced enough.

That was ok, though. Being able to attend was good enough for me.

Everyone quieted down and took their seats as the music began to play. I noticed the flowers spread along the aisle. Pretty. We all stood as the two entered the room. Vahlen wasn't wearing a wedding dress, but a sleeveless dress with a silver glow.

Man, that looked nice. She looked quite good in it - not too flamboyant and fancy, but not too simple. The Commander, on the other hand, wore his dress uniform, just like the soldiers. As the two came together on the podium, escorted by the soldiers, and they began to speak their vows, I began to think.

Would I ever have the chance to do something like this myself? Find someone to spend the rest of my life with, and marry them, surrounded by my friends and family? To look someone in the eyes, love them with all of my heart, and say 'I do'? The thought had plagued me for some time since I'd joined XCOM. Joining XCOM had taken me down another path, one that I wasn't complaining about, but something that would give me a life very few teenagers would ever have.

And I had accepted it.

But a part of me had wondered if I'd ever find _the one_ , someone to spend the rest of my life with. I'd never had a boyfriend or anything like that before - I honestly wasn't that good at relationships. I'd never really had any kind of real relationship before, though I'd be lying if I said there weren't any guys I was interested in back in high school.

Maybe someday, when I was much older, I could find someone. Hell, if things went well, I could possibly even get married _here_ , right in the Praesidium, where I'd truly grown and become someone. Imagine that. Me, Dawn Conley, the first teenager to join XCOM, and the first human biopath, getting married, surrounded by the various humans and aliens that had become family.

As for a family, my own at least, kids were never really in the picture for me. I wasn't a big fan of them, and considering my job and what I'd be doing, I was certain that I wouldn't make good mom material. I could deal with psions and gunfire, no problem. But a screaming baby? Hell no. I'd probably be better 'cool aunt' material, honestly.

That was something I could think about later.

As the couple on the stand finished their vows with 'I do', and 'Until death do us part', and sealed their vows with a kiss, I smiled warmly.

_You did it, Commander. You're married. Good for you._

_Be happy._

_You deserve all that, and so much more for what you've done._

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present for the first time, Mr. And Mrs. Vahlen!"

We all stood up and roared in applause, clapping and shouting with happiness and joy as they walked down the aisle without a care in the world, as they should. This was their moment, and no one else's.

Afterwards it was time for the reception. The guests were...well, more prominent than I'd expected. Chancellor Vyandar, Commander Christaens, _and_ Director Powell.

 _Don't act like an idiot in front of them, Dawn._ Yeah. Whatever the newlyweds and the brass were talking about was definitely above my pay grade. Also, I just felt plain nervous being around them. I'd excused myself from Kunio for a moment to stock up on some food, as it looked like a slight improvement from the food we usually got in XCOM.

Not that XCOM's food was bad, mind you. It was good - like _five-star_ level good. I'd heard that after the chefs were wiped out, several more prolific chefs had volunteered for the role. Granted, I didn't know how good the food was before I got here, but I'd heard it was a substantial upgrade from before.

As I loaded up on a probably unhealthy amount of cake, I noticed a figure that had stood out. Some dude in a _tux_ of all things had been milling around, talking to people - Kunio and that Zara person in particular. _Didn't she used to work for EXALT?_ Hmmm. I think she did. But the man just looked interesting.

Wonder who that guy was, probably wasn't all that important.

I also noticed he had a flower pinned to his tux. Oh yeah, I'd helped with the flowers prior to this, thank you very much. I wasn't a florist or anything, but I couldn't help but say 'yes' when they asked for volunteers for the preparation.

Putting in my five cents for the cause, I suppose.

"Dawn!" I noticed Kunio approaching me.

"Kunio! How'd your talk with Zara go?"

"Good. We're actually going to spar if you're interested."

My eyes widened. "Oh, uh, sure! I'd like that." I stared at my plate. "Can I finish my cake first?"

He nodded. "Sure. I'll text you where we are. I'm sure she could give you a few tips. Oh, and no psionics."

"Bummer!" I sarcastically said as I made a fake pouty face. He chuckled.

"Alright then. Fifteen minutes?"

"Fifteen minutes, gotcha." As he walked away, I dug into my cake. Well, that sounded like fun. Fighting with a former member of the Illuminati? Seems like today just got more interesting.

* * *

_Pool, Recreation Complex, Praesidium_

_6/15/17- 12:20 AM_

What would you think that a bunch of XCOM soldiers would do in their free time? Shoot things? Work out? Spar? Have a pool party? All three of those, and then some?

If you guessed the last one, ding ding, you'd be right. Although it wasn't quite like any I'd been to before. The main difference was that instead of a bunch of high schoolers dancing around to whatever was hot at the time, with no supervision, antics, and the occasional illegal drug, it was a bunch of adult soldiers with unreasonably high kill counts (the exception being me, of course), some of whom had space magic.

Me being in the latter, of course, though I sure as hell wasn't complaining.

Twenty to thirty soldiers from various barracks were here - most of them lounging around, talking, with some swimming in the pool. The few psions that were here, telekines and aegii (I was the only telepath that showed up, go figure) were messing around with the water, talking, and having fun in general. I was in my own little corner of the pool, soda in hand.

"Dawn!"

I looked up from my soda. "Eina. Hey!"

Eina Berkovic, a Ukrainian Aegii with a thick accent, swam next to me, and climbed onto the sidebar. "How are you?"

"Pretty good. Gotta be honest, I didn't expect that many people to show up."

She smiled. "Just because we're soldiers doesn't mean we can't have some fun. Hey, why aren't you hanging out with the rest of us?" She nodded to a group of soldiers from my barracks, chatting it up. I noticed a platter full of…

"Are those ADVENT burgers?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, chefs made a whole bunch just for us; imported straight from ADVENT. They gave us some leftovers for this. Not bad, eh?" I nodded, but didn't speak. "Something wrong, Dawn?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. Just not really sure what I'd talk about. I'm really not that knowledgeable about...adult stuff and things like that. Don't really have a lot of experience in that field."

"Ah, you'll be fine Dawn." She smiled warmly. "You may be young, but you're one of us. C'mon."

She offered a hand, which I took and followed her across the pool to a group of soldiers talking and laughing, Lian, Cassandra, Barbara, and Vihelmina among them, floating in the water.

"So then, I was testing it out, and I accidentally crushed his drink, sending the stuff flying everywhere!" Vihelmina laughed at...whatever conversation I had walked into(well, really _swam_ in to be specific). I propped myself up next to her, and she noticed me almost instantly.

"There's our resident teenager! Where've you been Dawn?"

"Hanging out. Over there. Um, what're you guys talking about?"

"Psionic stuff. Our non-enlightened Barbara and Cassandra were curious about what it felt like, having our powers for the first time. I just got done telling them about how I accidentally blew up the doctor's soda as he was running some tests on me."

I snorted. The image of a plastic bottle of soda exploding, showering the room in orange fluid brought a small smirk to my face. It reminded me, in a way, that even with the age and experience gap, I could still relate to them. Sure, I was a kid compared to them, but we all had something in common here - we were soldiers, psions, comrades in arms. We may not have been related, but we were family. All of us were.

"Dawn, do you have anything noteworthy to tell us? I'm sure you've ran into something before coming here."

I considered her question before shrugging slightly. "Eh, a few. My first few weeks after I got awakened were rough." I noticed nods from the other psions in the group. None of them were telepaths, but I'd heard firsthand that psionic awakening for _anyone_ was a little rough _._ The other disciplines may not have had full-on hearing voices like us telepaths, but things were disorienting in their own ways. Telekines, for example, felt like the world around them could be bent to their will, and had a tendency to throw and crush things.

Parts of me were glad I wasn't a telekine. Physically crushing someone like that...ugh.

Then again, I just straight up _melted_ things, which was much more disgusting, so...yeah. One of two evils, I guess.

"You guys hear voices and thoughts, right?"

"Yeah. Thankfully the restraints kept us from hearing or projecting thoughts or any crazy shit like that. Wouldn't want a teenager mind controlling people, now would we?" That got a few chuckles from the group.

"But yeah. It was difficult at first to project myself in training. And reading minds was just plain creepy. Just looking into someone's mind and seeing so much about what makes them them made me, at least, feel kind of overbearing. Mind controlling, while easy to learn and initiate, was just another thing entirely. Especially with telepathic kill commands. Snuffing out someone just like that disturbed me at first. Over time, I became pretty desensitized to it, though."

_Mostly._

"Well, if you ever need to talk, Dawn. We're here. No judgment." Barbara nodded at me.

"I didn't even know this place had a pool up until a few days ago. Seriously, this puts anything I've ever seen before to shame." I shrugged. "Guess XCOM doesn't want its soldiers getting bored. The whole thing's just so surreal, and honestly? I'm kind of loving it." As my eyes scanned the pool area, I noticed several diving boards. Including a _tall_ one.

My friends, naturally, noticed.

"Getting any ideas with that, Dawn?"

"Um, I don't know. I've never really gotten that much into swimming. Although…" A large grin spread across my face. You know what? I was at a party, and I'd be damned if I didn't take this to its fullest potential. So screw it.

I took an ADVENT burger, ate it pretty quickly (if there's one thing ADVENT's done perfectly, it's making good burgers. I wouldn't blame an alien for defecting just for the burgers) and climbed out of the pool. Grinning, I walked towards the board.

"Dawn, where're you going?" I turned around, looking at Eina.

"To have some fun!" I ran, my feet slapping against the wet floor until I reached the stairs. I gripped the bar, and began to climb up until I reached the top, overlooking the pool. Man, this felt high. I stepped onto the board, surveying the place. My friend group's eyes laid solely on me, wondering if XCOM's Resident Teenager™ would take the jump.

"What's that?" I asked sarcastically. "You want me to come down?" I grinned.

I was in the moment. I just _felt_ like I had to do it. I did crazy shit every day, things I'd never done before. Why not add this to the list?

I took a step back, one leg in front, one leg behind, like a sprinter. My grin widened and I took off, leaping off the board, feeling the rush as I flew off.

"Caaaaanonball!" I curled up best as I could, feeling as I descended downwards towards the water. In that instant, that moment, I felt like a kid again. Swimming with my sister during summers, not a care in the whole damn world. Playing in the grass behind our house. Our cheers of joy when the ice cream truck stopped by. I can remember it so vividly, just letting yourself go and just...have... _fun_.

My curled-up body hit the water, sending up a huge splash as I sunk under. I looked up, and spread out my limbs, embracing the cool feel of the water as my hair flowed freely. I looked down at the depths, then up, at the surface. I swam up, surfacing, shaking some water off of my face.

_Okay. That was awesome._

"Dawn! You good?" Lian swam over to me, inquiring.

"Good? I feel great!" The rush I felt- the _excitement_ I felt from that- was absolutely wonderful. "That was awesome!" I noticed Lian's confused expression. "I just...wanted to. I've never done something like that before." She raised an eyebrow. Then, she started laughing.

"That look on your face, Dawn! I've never seen you smile that much before."

"Wait, what?"

"It lasted for a second. But you looked...well, genuinely happy."

 _Was it the memory? Odd._ "Huh. Well, you got any food left?"

"Oh yeah." I followed her back to our little group, where they were chowing down on some burgers, along with two six-packs.

"Dawn! I saw your jump. Not bad!"

"Thanks, Barbara. Is that beer?"

"Yeah! What, you've never seen it before?"

I snorted. "Of course. Is that even allowed?"

"As long as it doesn't affect your performance." She sipped one.

I gulped. "Um...can I try one?"

That got me a few looks. They all looked at one another.

"Is that even allowed?" Lian asked Eina.

"I mean, she's above eighteen."

"It's eighteen where I come from," Eina stated. "And it's not like she's going to drink the whole thing. Even so, it's not like she'd get drunk from one beer. Besides, she's mature. It's not like she'll down a bunch like a partier." The women looked at one another. Finally, Vihhelmina spoke.

"Alright Dawn, here you go." She grabbed a bottle, took off the top with her psionics, and floated it over to my hand. "But if you feel weird, drowsy, or anything, tell us. Got it?"

"Got it."

I held the cold bottle, looking at the corny symbol on it. I'd heard from friends that it tasted to varying degrees - some said it was like heaven, others like piss. I shook the bottle a little, watching the liquid swish around.

Why not? Well, bottoms up. I put the bottle to my mouth, and kicked my head back, taking a sip. It was cold, and the taste hit me a second later, as I put the bottle down. It tasted like...sour coffee. And I didn't even like coffee that much.

They must've noticed my blanched face.

"You alright there?"

I gulped. "You guys _drink_ this shit? It tastes horrible!" They laughed.

"Is this your first time trying it?" Barbara asked curiously.

"Yes."

"If you want to, try another sip. You might get used to it. At least in my experience."

"Really?" I felt a little ashamed. I'd embarrassed myself in front of them, hadn't I?

"Hey, everyone has their first time for _something_ , sooner or later. Hell, I had my first drink at sixteen! I accidentally drank some of my dad's vodka thinking it was water, and I puked my guts out that night!" Vihhelmina chuckled. I awkwardly smiled. _Ooo-kay then_. She noticed my slight smirk.

"Ah, everyone's done something stupid when they were young." I reluctantly took another drink. The taste was strong.

"This is really strong. Pretty sour too." I stuck out my tongue, as if trying to get the taste out of my mouth. I put the bottle down, opting for another burger. Tasty.

"Not a fan?"

"Eh." I shrugged. "Not a fan. Taste is too strong. Maybe another day." _Look at that, another milestone in my life. On this day, I had my first beer. Well, sip really. Add that to the list of firsts I've done here, which_ _includes_ _but_ _is_ _not limited to- meeting my first alien, meeting my first eldritch tentacle god, et cetera._ "I feel old already."

"Really now?"

"Well, yeah. I mean-" I gestured to myself. "I'm still a teenager, but I feel like I 'moved up in the game of life' in a _huge_ way if you know what I mean. I...well, I miss a lot of stuff from, well before."

"Like what?" Eina stated, curiously.

"A lot of things. Going out with my friends, talking, messing around, and just...well, being ourselves. Hell, I even miss having my hair grown out. I know that sounds so damn petty, but…" I grabbed my phone, opened it up, and scrolled through my images, until I found a picture. It was a selfie of me right before graduation, me trying out my graduation clothing.

"Do I look better with my hair longer or shorter?" They got closer, eyeing the image.

"Wow...you look pretty different without your augs." Lian commented. "You look kind of...smaller."

" _Smaller_?"

"Your muscles and body. Without the augs, you seem thinner." Huh. I took a look at my arms, then at the picture me's arms. She had a point. Definitely less muscle on me than before. The hexagons, too. Without them, my skin looked more...well, _normal_. More _human_. I'd gotten used to all my new looks by now, no doubt. But sometimes when I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt distant from the person that stared back.

Inside, I was still me. But outside? The long, brown hair that defined my looks for so many years was gone, my brown eyes that looked oddly similar to that of chocolate, now outlined with almost that of a sickly yellow. My mind...well, that was another story.

Kind of felt like every day, I slowly lost a piece of myself.

But if I wanted to do this- which I definitely did, then that was one of them I had to give up.

"Dawn? You alright?" I looked up at Barbara. "You-"

"I'm okay. In fact…" I smirked. "I actually feel kind of great. Really great. And no, it's not just the party."

"What is it?"

"What is it, Vihelmina? I don't know how to say this, but I feel older. More mature. And I'm okay with that." I looked at the phone again, putting it aside. "When I was in senior year, I worried a lot about college. Which one I'd go to, what degree I would major in, the money, going away from home, being independent, all of that seemed so _scary_ to me. I'd always worried that I'd be alone, that I'd never have any interests that would get me anywhere in life."

I paused for a moment. "I always thought I'd be stuck wandering aimlessly, never finding something to truly do or believe in. And then - all this happened. Like out of a story or something on TV. And it made me push myself. I joined the PRIESTs. I discovered my power, tamed it, and I became _invested_ in it. I found something I could do, and genuinely _do_ something with it. I had my dark moments, yeah. But you know what? I was kind of happy. And then XCOM came knocking."

"I said yes because I wanted to learn. Grow. Develop. Master this strange new power I had, and use it to help people. But I doubt I'd be here today if it weren't for people like you, Vihelmina. Lian. Barabra. Eian. People who supported me. _Cared_. You could have chosen to ignore me, to act like I was just some kid playing catch-up with the big leagues. But no. You all chose to help me, give me advice, teach me how to do things."

I stared at the picture of me in that cap and gown, so happy, yet so different. I sighed. "The girl in that photo isn't me anymore. I can't ever be her again. But I can become better than her. Stronger. Smarter. I'd want to make that past me proud." I looked at the group of women in front of me. "And you know what? I think that if she was here right now, she'd be proud of me and what I've done."

"I remember that first night. I was in my bed, crying. I felt hopeless. Alone. Like no one got me, _understood_ me. And then you guys came along, helped me out of bed, talked to me, calmed me down, helped me get some clarity. You're my family now. Always will be. And for that?" I smiled.

"I fuckin' love you guys. Every single one of you."

Damnit, if only I could hug all of them right now at once. But they all just smiled at me.

"You're part of our family too, Dawn. To some of us, you're like a little sister."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. You're younger than a lot of us, add some youth to our group, and well, you're _different_. But in a good way." Okay, I kind of blushed there. I was about to respond, but another soldier waded over.

"We're doing a group picture. Want in?" Oh hell yes. We followed her, and the soldiers arranged themselves for the group pic. I placed myself in the front, still in the water. The phone floated up. _Sigh._ Telekines and their powers.

"Say cheese!" I smiled as wide as I could, flashing a V for Victory sign with my right hand, just like my grandpa did in his old war photos.

_This one's for you, gramps. Continuing the Conley family tradition of taking down tyrants. You took down the Nazis, Uncle Frederic took down the Caliphate, and now here I am, taking down the Collective._

_Cheers._

* * *

_Praesidium, Entertainment Room #4_

_6/20/17 - 8:47 PM_

The armored man charged into the room, picking up the aliens with telekinesis and crushing them. The Ethereal looked up from the hologram table and charged at him, firing shockwaves eerily reminiscent of Dynamo psionics. The soldier dodged the blasts, pulling a belt of grenades from his waist and leaped at the Ethereal.

The Ethereal fired another volley- but he was too late. The man flew over the Ethereal's helmet, slinging the belt of grenades around its throat, and landing on the floor, as it exploded behind him. And of course, in typical trope fashion, he did _not_ look at the explosion.

"Heads up." The soldier said, before walking out of the room, leaving both a corpse and sighs from the people crowded around the TV.

Behind me, leaning over the couch in a totally not ominous fashion, Sierra sighed dryly. "If only it was _that_ easy to kill an Ethereal."

"I know. Tell me about it. The guy didn't even have any mental protection. The Ethereal could've just killed him with a telepathic attack and be done for." Clifton, a dynamo psion who'd _also_ fought the Battlemaster's avatar, like Sierra, was here too. He was German, like Geist, but thankfully much more emotionally open and could take (and crack) jokes.

"At least the grenade thing was a nice trick. But he easily could've gotten his neck snapped or something if that Ethereal was even remotely good at telekinesis," I added in. I had seen quite a bit of the XCOM TV show with my friends back in the PRIESTs (which was quite notorious among XCOM soldiers for being cheesy), but binging it with them had become something of a fun pastime. And hey, any excuse to sit around, have fun, and down tons of popcorn and soda that would've made my parents revile at the sheer sight of it was something I'd take.

"None of you have considered the fact that even a young Ethereal easily could have killed him before he got in the room. Even my infant self could have decimated him with little effort."

Oh yeah, and Caelior was here too.

"Well, that's something too, I guess," I said, shoving more popcorn into my mouth. "But hey, it's still fun to watch. It's like that 'so bad it's good' kind of thing, know what I'm saying?"

But in the end, we were just poking jabs at the show. It was fun to watch, but we couldn't help but poke a little bit at its tropes.

"Nothing like what you thought XCOM would be like, Dawn?" Blake Harkin, a medic, jokingly asked from across the room.

"A more cheesy version, I guess. Is it true they ask you guys for advice on some of the material?"

"Oh yeah. They send us stuff to 'approve' or 'change' all the time. Hell, some of the characters are outright based on real XCOM soldiers and staff." Clifton interjected. That didn't really surprise me - the 'Commander' in the show kind of looked like him, except with a much nicer demeanor. The show's version of Patricia had, thankfully, not defected and was in a relationship with a guy who was definitely _not_ Creed. Although I had to give to them on the 'Quisilia was the defector instead of Aegis' part. _That_ got some laughs out of me.

I wondered if they were going to make an equivalent of Caelior. That'd be something.

Or me. That would be...odd.

"Can you imagine if they made a character based off of me?" I wondered. "That'd be a hell of a ride."

Sierra snorted. "I doubt they'd do that. And even if they did, it'd probably be some stereotypical version of you."

"Guess that's true. Although to be honest, I don't think any of you expected a teenager to be serving alongside you guys. Uh, no offense Caelior."

"None taken."

"But hey. I appeal to the teen demographic. I'm a potential source of recruitment, if you think about it. ' _If this teenager can fight the aliens, then so can_ _ **you!**_ ' That kind of thing. Besides, it'd be an interesting character."

She hummed in thought. "I could see that working, as long as they wrote him or her right and found a proper actor."

"Right. Well, I didn't know you guys held this show in such a high regard." I said sarcastically.

"Oh, it's not _that_ bad," Sierra interjected. "This is all one hundred percent intentional, and actually rather brilliant in some ways. Sure, it may take the things we do and make it more...optimistic for the common viewer, but it's for the people. It's meant to _inspire_ them. Make them feel better about the war. It's more interesting than making it a standard 'gritty' show."

At least the show didn't seem to have the dreaded 'couple's curse' like some soldiers here rumored that XCOM had.

I shrugged as we turned our attention back to the show, which was some kind of briefing with a group of soldiers standing in a briefing room around a hologram. They were planning out some kind of mission. Quisilia was there - the show version of him anyway, giving exposition for why so-and-so was important.

"Um, does anyone know if that's _actually_ the Ethereal Memelord™, or just a CGI one?" I asked, with a slightly nervous tint.

"It would not surprise me if it was indeed Quisilia, not an extremely similar replica," Caelior answered. "The voice is remarkably similar."

"Seems like something he'd do," Blake added on. "Although if that actually _is_ him, that raises even more questions. Do XCOM and ADVENT actually know it's him, and if they do, do they just not care?"

Sierra shrugged. "I'm sure XCOM and ADVENT have a handle on it if it actually is the real deal."

"Whatever the case, it's still interesting." We turned our attention back to the TV, where it showed the Skyranger being loaded up with soldiers, then taking off.

"Ha! If only the real Skyranger held that many people!" Sierra chortled.

"At least the armor looks accurate. Guns look and sound the same, too." Meanwhile, the team leader was giving the run-down to the rest of the squad.

" _We have intel that suggests the enemy intends to capture the town's populace for experiments. We need to stop them before it's too late!_ "

"Sounds like XCOM's old ops, before the war began," Blake commented. "Haven't gone on one of those in a long time."

I didn't comment, as I most certainly had no experience with that. The squad landed outside of the town, moving in, using the shops as cover. Suddenly, they came under fire from a very realistic-looking group of Vitakara.

"Damn, their special effects have improved," Clifton commented. The squad's psion uses telekinesis to lift and smash the Vitakara into a nearby building, killing them. I whistled. Damn, not bad. Messy, but not bad. They moved up into the town square, where a group of civilians were seemingly being held hostage by Sectoids.

"I doubt the Sectoids would have kept the hostages alive this long," Caelior noted. He was right. Sectoids didn't really have emotions. But, it was a show, not real life. I kept watching. A burly-looking Sectoid held a plasma pistol to a civilian's head, which the team leader was looking for a shot. Suspenseful music began to play. I ate more popcorn, waiting for the inevitable heroic movement.

The leader adjusted his aim, shooting the Sectoid in the leg. When the Sectoid recoiled, he blasted his head apart, followed up by the other members killing the remaining Mutons, freeing the civilians. The team did a high-five, and the show cut to them flying back to headquarters, chatting.

"Ah yes, I too enjoy a total victory after five kills." Sierra snorted, as the sniper pulled out a full cigar and lit it with a psionic flame. The show continued on for a few more minutes, with the 'Commander' and not-Vahlen talking, and kissed at the end, cutting to credits.

_Aaaaand now they're a thing. Welp, time to turn on the death timer._

The preview for the next episode began playing as the credits rolled. It cut to a picture of what looked like a Temple Ship. An Ethereal was sitting on a chair, staring at a map. It stood up, and walked towards the camera, and it looked like it had some kind of melee weapon on its back.

"Is that supposed to be the Battlemaster?" I asked.

"Looks like it. Guess they're upping the show now that Trask is the enemy."

"It's good they keep up with the modern war. Can't wait to see them have every line he does a melodramatic speech."

"I'd expect them to have him ham it up," Sierra said. "At least, that's what I'd do if I were in charge."

"I'm glad I'm watching this with you all now," I said. "Hell, we liked it back before I joined you guys. We'd watch it every week. But watching it with you guys is even more fun, now that I know what's going on behind the scenes."

"That's great, Dawn." Sierra nodded at me. I smiled back.

"Same time next week, everyone?"

We all nodded in response to Clifton's question. As the credits finished, we got off the couch, and began to disperse, I sat on the couch for a few more minutes, chewing and drinking.

Moments like these made XCOM worth it ten times over. Some things just never got old.

* * *

_Carreria's Quarters, Paperclip Base_

_6/22/17 - 2:23 PM_

"And that's me and my sister, four days old." I zoomed in on the picture, giving my fur-coated friend a closer look.

"You are so tiny when your kind are babies. Borelian babies are...larger than that. Add more hair as well. I do not know how your kind are so small, yet so intimidating and violent at the same time."

"Part of our nature, I guess. Humans overall evolved in a much more competitive environment then Vitakarians did. I'm no scientist, so I can't really pin it down, but if I had to make a guess, it's probably the way we evolved."

She unexpectedly chortled at that, but didn't say anything as I continued. "Compared to you guys, we've done a lot of really bad shit you guys can't even imagine. But that's another story." I looked at her. "Do you have anything about your family you could show me?"

"Anything for a friend." She reached over to grab a tablet she'd brought in with her, hit a few buttons, and slid it over to me. "See? My family." The picture showed what I assumed to be a mother and father - the latter smaller than the other, compared to humans. The mother's hair looked more similar to Carreria's, while her dads' was a more dark grey compared to her snow-white fur.

She definitely looked like her parents, that was for sure.

"That was me when I turned eleven."

" _Eleven?_ You're huge, even at that age!"

She shrugged. "Not atypical for a female of my age. Even then I was one of the best in my fighting class in school."

"F-fighting class?"

If she had an eyebrow, she was probably raising it. "Humans don't teach their young self-defense?"

"Um...no. Marital arts and stuff like that is outside of school."

She shook her head. "I suppose it should not surprise me. For such a violent species, you do not necessarily cultivate it at a younger age."

"Fighting, guns, and things like that aren't really valued that much unless you're in the military or police. Or certain government agencies," I shrugged. "But in a way, you are right. But I couldn't imagine school-age me fighting people. Well, back before I joined XCOM, of course. Tell me about your family."

"Father was the best father he could be. He was an _amazing_ cook, and taught me almost everything I know of non-militant life."

"He was a homemaker?"

"That sounds like the correct word. Our men fulfill the domestic roles. When my mate and I decide to have children, I have no doubt that he would be an excellent father. He is a very caring individual."

"Aww. I could be an aunt then!"

She laughed heavily. "You as an aunt! That is...that is a good one! Imagine my family's reaction if they found that out. 'Mother, father, here is my baby, and this little human here is her aunt!' I am kidding, though. That is a very kind offer from you. Do you plan to have any children?"

I shook my head. "I never really gave it that much thought. My only life plan for now is to serve with XCOM. Hopefully if I live long enough, hell, I could help newly awakened telepaths manage their abilities. Maybe even if another human biopath shows up...but I doubt that'll happen. I just never really liked kids, I guess. My sister on the other hand, she'd be a great mom."

Carreria considered that. "Understandable. You are committed to your job and duty. That is a very respectable trait among my people. In fact, that is how my mate and I met!"

"Indeed we did." I looked up, and saw a grey-colored Borelian enter her quarters. "You must be the Dawn my wife has been talking so much about!"

"I'm guessing you're Sandeath?" I offered him a hand, which he shook.

"Indeed." His voice oddly enough sounded lighter and softer then Carreria's. He was still quite physically intimidating, with a lot of muscles and a large body like Carreria's, but smaller and a bit more lithe than her.

"Sandeath!" She got up, and they bear-hugged. They then proceeded to do some kind of strange show of...affection? They nuzzled each other for a minute, then did some strange head-alternate thing, like a dance. Carreria put her head on Sandeath's right shoulder, Sandeath placed his head on her right shoulder. They would switch places after a few seconds. This strange...head...dance...thing of Borelian love went on for about a minute before they stopped.

"Ah, Dawn. That is how Borelian lovers greet one another. 'The alternating of two loving minds' is roughly what you'd call it. When we were primitive, we would do it to smell one's pheromones. Now, it's more of a tradition, although it does serve as a biological function. But," He took her hand. "It is a sign of love, just as you humans kiss."

Ok, that's kind of sweet.

"So, how exactly _did_ you two meet?"

"Well, I was at the firing range of my base in Borelia. I'd just gotten promoted. This was a while before the war began. I was showing some Vitakarian recruits how shooting was really done. Fragile little guys, I tell you. I took the heads off of nine targets in a matter of seconds. Soon as I was done, and they were dismissed, _this guy_ walked up to me."

"A _dashing_ guy, if I recall correctly." Sandeath amended. If Borelians blushed, she would've, no doubt about it.

"He walked up to me, and said 'I've never seen a female shoot that well before.' I just looked at him like he was crazy and was thinking _who is this male? I've never seen him before._ So I offered to show him again, which I did. We kept talking, and well…"

"So let me get this straight. _You_." I pointed to Sandeath. "Found her _gunplay_ attractive?" He chuckled.

"I was simply impressed with her skill! I had never seen someone shoot like that before. It would have been rude not to compliment such exceptional marksmanship."

 _So all you need for a Borelian to date you is to be good with a gun. Huh._ They must have noticed the confused look on my face.

"I am certain it seems odd to an alien; but such encounters are fairly commonplace as a starting point," she said. "We do have 'dating,' in a sense like you, though it is not necessarily kickstarted the same way as other aliens. Believe me, you humans do plenty of things that you see as normal while we would struggle to comprehend how you do it."

"Like what?"

"Your 'alcohol'. It has been shown that consuming large portions can be extremely dangerous to your health and others'. Yet your people drink it so much!"

I was going to answer, but I stopped for a moment. "Okay. I get your point." _Cultural differences._ "I'm sorry if I sounded kind of insensitive."

She waved me off. "Don't mention it. You are simply being curious. I'm sure my mate and I can answer any questions you may have?"

"Any?"

"You are a friend, Dawn. Of course."

"What was it like seeing Aegis in South Korea? It must have been terrifying for you, to be facing someone of such power."

They both looked at one another, then back at me. "Terrifying is not the right word. You must understand, our species almost reveres the Ethereals. The idea of _fighting o_ ne is...unthinkable to us. I was on the front lines, Sandeath was working on communications. I saw Aegis just...stand there in front of us. None of us knew what to do. It was like seeing a god before you. You didn't know if to bow, run, or fight. Some of us did...and he just tore through them like it was nothing." She paused.

"So we ran towards him in groups, the Vitakara did at least, of all races. The Mutons and Sectoids, mindless beasts they are, kept shooting. The Andromedons just fled."

"And now you're here."

They each gripped their hands. "Yes. The ADVENT soldiers took our groups in without firing a shot. They restrained us and kept us in a base. I was fret with worry my love had not survived. I thought he was dead or missing for hours. Finally, I noticed more soldiers escorting more prisoners, and I saw him in the line!"

Sandeath jumped. "I thought she was dead, too. Fighting an Ethereal…" He shivered. "I can't imagine it. I thought she was dead for sure, When ADVENT charged the base, I gave up without a fight. It is difficult to describe how I felt when I saw her. I freaked out. I kept yelling her name, she kept yelling my name, so on and so on until the soldiers stopped us."

"The guards eventually figured out what was going on, and they both put us in the same holding center. We were so happy to see each other. Hugging, crying, very emotional. I felt bad for the two other Vitakara in there. They must have felt so uncomfortable!" Sandeath laughed. Borelian laughs always threw me off. It sounded like a combination of a lion's growl and a hyena's 'laugh'.

So unnerving, yet so unique at the same time. Couldn't choose which one it was.

"And you ended up here."

"Yes." Carreria took it from there. "We were interrogated. First time I'd felt telepathy. Not something that I particularly enjoyed. We were confused. Scared. Then they put us all in a room, and Aegis walked in. He...graced us. Then he told us everything. We saw the pictures. The videos of Paradise and the Hive. After that, we felt...lost. Like nobodies."

"Yesterday, we were soldiers of a glorious cause. Now, we were mere pawns, following liars and a river of blood spilled for no good reason. I couldn't live with myself after finding out what I'd been fighting for. I was lost. Without purpose. We did not know what to do. But then we talked, and we came to a decision. We could have participated in the AEGIS Integration program, living alongside humans. But we felt like we owed your kind a debt. We had both either directly or indirectly killed many of you, and we needed to repay that debt. So, here we are. In XCOM. Both of us."

"I respect that a lot." I said.

Carreria had told me a shortened version earlier, but this gave it more emotional depth. I couldn't even try to imagine what it felt like to lose all your purpose, to have your whole world turned upside down, to realize the people you were so valiantly fighting for were the bad guys who had done things beyond anything a nightmare could ever possibly conjure.

How the hell do you even recover from a revelation like that?

"It must've been hard. Getting used to humans being your friends and allies couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't. It took a while to get used to being around your kind. But XCOM has taken excellent care of us. Looking back, I can say with absolute certainty that the 'reasoning' behind our invasion was quite flawed. I sympathize much, much more with Humans now. I never thought I'd be saying that, but I am."

"And I never thought I'd be fighting against aliens with purple space magic. I guess we all feel out of place in one way or another." I responded. "Though after the invasion, I doubt there'll ever be a 'normal' again with how ADVENT and XCOM have changed things. Not that I'm complaining really. Look at the alternative of the Collective losing."

"Indeed. After looking at your people's history, I see now that my people are not as free as I once imagined."

"Yes." I corrected her husband...mate. Eh, saying _mate_ sounded a little weird. _Husband_ just sounded better.

"Right. I can't imagine what they're saying about us back home. They've probably told our families we are traitors. Or dead."

I gritted my teeth. "Well technically, you _are_ a traitor. In a good way, of course. They're just using that word to make it sound like the reason you joined us was _bad_."

He nodded. "Perhaps one day we will be able to go back and see our families. Then, perhaps the Vitakara as a whole can finally be free to find their own path in the galaxy."

"And we'll help you." I said. "I mean, if you wanted to, the two of you could definitely live here. We have quite a few places on Earth as cold as Borelia, I'm sure."

"We appreciate your concern, Dawn. But Borelia is our home, and we hope to return someday and help our people rebuild it into something better. It would not be right not to."

"Well, I'm sure I can find a way to help you do that."

She smiled. "You already have."

"How?"

"By being our friend, of course. Our people will need allies after this war. I severely doubt the Collective will have any influence on us after this war is over. Like it or not, humanity is helping us, Be it with helping the Nulorian, killing Collective soldiers, what have. And humans like you show that our races both can work together."

"Poetic."

She rumbled. "Who said Borelians can't be poetic every so often?"

I shrugged. "Hey, I never saw any of your baby pictures. Where are they?"

She froze, and her eyes went wide when Sandeath chuckled. "This will be fun."

* * *

_Dreamscape_

_6/23/17 - 1:05 PM_

_The bricks, Dawn. Imagine the bricks that make them up._

_There we go. Feel the bonds, grab a hold of them. Make them yours._

_Ah...there we go._ It was hard to explain to a non-biopath how it felt mentally latching onto someone's cellular structure. When you had taken over, it felt like a hand picking up a glob of that crappy dollar-store goop parents would buy for their little kids to keep them busy. Only _you_ were the hand, and the goop was the subject. You could mold it and shape it any way you wanted, manipulating the very fabric of what made someone into, well _anything_.

Or you could just melt them.

Geist and I had discussed potential uses of biopathy outside of warfare. The possibilities of biopathy, even for civilian fields alone, were immense. Encouraging rapid plant growth, ending cancerous growth in both humans and animals - and that wasn't even mentioning chemistry! I wasn't a chemist myself, but cellular manipulation to possibly cause reactions in chemical compounds was something Geist had considered, due to his expertise in that field.

" _You have a gift not many have. It is important to consider how this can be used_ _beyond military purposes._ _The_ _application of psionics will go beyond the battlefield and into our daily lives_ _when the war is concluded, and will_ _impact the lives of many more_ _beyond_ _the battlefield._ _Consider what role you may have when that point comes._ "

Odd as he may have been, I don't think anyone else could've been a better teacher for me. He may act like he has a stick up his ass sometimes, but he knows his shit, and uses it well. He teaches, and does it well. I can see now why his students liked him so much.

Well, in a way I was wrong, In the best-case scenario, there _was_ one other person who could teach me, but the reality of _that_ happening was a far cry from reality. _No, no, Dawn. Get that stupid idea out of your head. There is no fucking way the Dead Man himself would surrender to us. For all I know, he could be planning to lead another offensive. Wouldn't be like how Aegis said in his file, but then again, the guy was dead for a real long time. Who knows what it might do to someone's mind._

_And even if he did, would he even train me? Would he see me as not strong enough? Not smart or skilled enough to be considered worthy? And if I did fight him, would he take pity on me, or try and capture and turn me into one of those Avatar things?_

_Fuck no. I'm not going to let them take me alive. Over my dead body. Literally._

I shook my head. _Back to melting people._ Next time Aegis would train with me, I'd ask him about Mortis.

"Dawn?" _Geist_.

"Oh. Hey. Just contemplating."

"Concerning what?" _Good. He wasn't looking into my mind._ He'd stopped doing that after our first few lessons.

"Possibilities, Geist. I've been thinking about what else I can do with my biopathy."

He nodded sharply. "Good. You have considered the possibilities?"

"Definitely. I have some ideas written back in the Barracks. Plant stuff. But I've been wondering if, well, I possibly might be able to do the _other_ biopathy?"

"The 'other biopathy?'"

"What Sana can do. Think about it. I can tell things to melt. It'd be possible I could do the opposite, right?"

"In the future, perhaps. But that is not what you are inclined towards right now. Dividing your focus serves no one, least of all yourself."

"I know. But there's a part of me that just keeps on wondering what else I could do with my powers." I looked at my hands. "I'm a powerful psion. I want to use my powers, But I don't want to waste them."

"It's good that you're not worrying about your power."

"Not exactly. I still am, I'm just thinking about how to best manage it. Expand it. Use it right so I don't have to worry."

He raised an eyebrow. "While I approve of your initiative, as your teacher, I'd advise you to focus on what we've been training for. Ideas and curriculums can be discussed later. For now, your natural biopathic inclinations are our mission."

"Alright. Another time, then. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"What was it like? Facing the Overmind?"

He apprised me. "Overwhelming."

"Oh..."

"He is arguably the most dangerous threat we face. The scale implied by our dossier is inadequate. Only the Imperator is more dangerous. I am not ready to properly face him, nor is anyone in XCOM with the exception of the Chronicler."

He paused. He looked almost...discomforted. I rarely ever saw emotion out of him. Maybe I shouldn't have asked him that.

"And if it isn't clear, Miss Conley, the capability to stand against a Sovereign Agent is very, very bad. Were it not for him, I would not have come back, nor would the rest of the squad." When he said that last part, I felt something. A little, brief twinge in his emotions.

_Was that sadness?_

"I-I'm sorry, Geist. I didn't mean to-" He held up a hand.

"You were asking a question, as any worthwhile student would do. If there is one lesson to take, it is that under no circumstances are you to operate where there is the chance the Overmind may lurk. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

He waved a hand. "Let us move on. There was something I intended to inquire - Your sleeping trick during one of the tests. You did it because you wanted to 'free them'?"

"Right. I felt like some of them deserved another chance. Vitakara in particular. I don't plan on doing it to the others. It's pointless. The Vitakara have been the victims of the Ethereals for decades."

"Victims?" Geist raised an eyebrow. "The Ethereals saved their species from extinction. They allowed them to prosper. They wanted for nothing, outside of membership in the Collective. The Vitakara are many things. Gullible. Useful. Naive. But they are not _victims_ , Miss Conley. The Mutons are victims. The Vitakara are willing vassals."

"I know that. But part of me feels bad for them. I know that sounds really naive, but there's this part of me that feels like they need another chance. They have families like us, too, and….."

I wasn't selling my talking point very well, was I? He had a valid point. The Mutons _were_ victims too- enslaved, reduced to beasts instead of being left alone and letting their evolutionary path take them into what could've been a prosperous civilization.

"Goddamnit. I just feel like they are victimized, in a way. Being ruled by a police state and all. I just want to stop the Ethereals from all the fucked up shit they've done to them and others. I guess I'm still getting used to actually killing people. I see into their minds, and unlike the others, I see families, kids, emotions, lives...they just feel different from the rest of the combatants."

Geist considered what I said for a moment before responding. "That is understandable. But the Vitakara are not as willing or capable of upending their entire culture and beliefs as you believe. The defectors are the minority - and more importantly, they aren't here because they suddenly realized the flaws of the Aui'Vitakar. They're here because they saw an Ethereal and began questioning if they were supporting the _right_ Ethereal. Remember that. These are aliens. They are not us, nor hold our views or have our mindset. They are good allies, but do not think they are the same as us."

My shoulders slumped. He was right. What was I thinking, putting myself in such a naive worldview? The Mutons were the real victims

"You're right. I guess I just didn't think it all the way through. I'm sorry if I sounded dumb or ignorant back there. I just...I guess I'm still wrapping my head around combat and killing people on the battlefield. It would put my teammates and I in unnecessary danger, and would just be a waste of time. I'm sorry. Geist."

God, I felt young and dumb.

He obviously noticed the very clearly embarrassed look on my face. "You are still learning and adapting to this. It is a normal reaction from someone of your background. I have no issue with you coming to a wrong conclusion or stating something questionable - because you have the rare ability to understand when you are wrong, and change your mind. Not many people have that skill. Do not come down on yourself for coming to the wrong conclusion, be proud of yourself for changing your mind and coming to the correct one."

I nodded. "I know sir, and I'll be more thoughtful before making statements and judgements like that next time."

He patted me on my armored shoulder. I'd gotten more used to wearing it. Honestly, it sometimes felt better then the fatigues I wore everywhere else. I'd never really gotten to wear regular clothes that much, unless it was nighttime. I wore my Black Templars shirt to bed occasionally. I was surprised it still fit me. Granted, I hadn't gotten taller, so I guess that was nice. Part of me wished the procedure had made me a little taller.

I wasn't comically _short_ , just a bit smaller than all the adults. Made me feel kind of out of place sometimes. Then again, no one gave me any shit about it, so that was good and all.

"As long as you are aware, Miss Conley. Is there anything we should discuss before finishing?"

I considered what he said. "Yeah, there is one more thing."

"And what is that?"

"I'd like to thank you. Officially. For being my teacher and all. Putting up with my teenage bullshit and showing me how to use and grow my powers. I'm glad you used to be a teacher. It really shows when you teach me. I don't think I've really fully thanked you like this, so. Yeah. I know I still have a ways to go, but thank you Geist, truly. For all you've done for me."

He gave a single nod. "I appreciate that, Miss Conley. I have done my best, despite our differences in personality, but it has been a welcome experience. But you have been one of the better students I have had, which is no small feat. What I hope to achieve is setting you down a useful path. I can only teach so much; someday you will have to forge ahead on your own. I am confident that you will be a pioneer in your own right."

I smiled. "Thank you. It means a lot, coming from you. Maybe one day, I can train people thanks to how you trained me. You've done an excellent job of it."

"Perhaps you will. I suspect you will be a more personable one than I am. If you do not know, you will take it upon yourself to learn from others. Your initiative has been one of your most commendable traits."

"I want to get better, sir. Don't see any other way I can do that. It's started to become second nature."

A small, satisfied smile grew on his face. "Then it seems I've done something right."

_Yes, Geist. It looks like you have._

* * *

To be continued in:

**Bane of the Dread Lord**


	10. Bane of the Dread Lord

_Project Nolan Training Center, Praesidium_

_6/25/17 - 9:30 AM_

I suppose it was only a matter of time before they put me in bigger, more expansive simulations. With the escalation of the war came the escalation of our training, but I didn't expect _this_ much escalation. Today's sim was supposed to be an intense battle of attrition, with the goal of halting an enemy advance while assisting ADVENT forces, and maybe even pushing back the enemy forces.

Considering who I'd be working with today, I had a feeling we could. Pretty much everyone else on the list had battlefield experience, but two names stood out to me. The first being Carmelita Alba, the woman who'd given me _such_ a warm welcome on my first day here. Granted, not like I was super miffed about it or anything now, but I hoped she wouldn't be so cold towards me this time.

Also, the stinger thing. I'd seen her use it against Sierra, and _ew_. I'd had enough of tentacles here. First the Shoggoths (who were adorable, change my mind), then that weird shit Senorium did back in Vietnam, and the stinger trick Carmelita pulled during the, admittedly fun, arm wrestling match. I wished I could've participated, but let's just say I was outmatched.

But the next person triggered my curiosity even more. The man himself.

Kane McTaggart, the man who literally beat the shit out of an Ethereal and lived to tell the tale.

Well, if he actually told it, of course, I'd heard he wasn't a big talker. Nevertheless, I was more than intrigued to be fighting with him. From what I'd heard, he was damn good To say he was imposing would be an understatement, I mean, the guy was _huge_. He was slightly taller then Sierra with all her augs, for chrissake.

Ah, well. Better to have him on our side than theirs.

The door opening brought me back to the real world. Carmelita walked in, followed by the rest of our team, which also had two more psions - a telekine by the name of Morita Emio and aegii Taqi al-pour, the psion that'd cut my cake during my birthday celebration, nice person. Kane was last, standing out due to his massive height, but also due to his mind. When I was near him, something just felt...off. I also noticed Zara, the ex-EXALT woman, who was a MELD operator.

Carmelita stared at me. "Oh, it's you." _Yeah, it's me. Who else did you think it was?_

"Yes. I took your advice the day we met very well. I'm ready for this simulation."

She just looked at me with a stoic face. "I hope Geist and Aegis have been teaching you well."

"They have."

She nodded to the other soldiers, beckoning them to the Orb. "Alright. Today's objective is simple: the battle will be taking place in an urban environment, so be very wary of your surroundings. The enemy is attempting to take an allied goal is to work with the friendly forces to keep the enemy at bay until the time threshold is met, or we deal catastrophic damage to the enemy forces."

I raised my hand and she acknowledged me with a nod. "What kind of forces are we expecting?"

"Mainly ground troops, with some sparse armor here and there. More elite units may show up, such as Sectopods or Executors." She paused, briefly eyeing me. "How good is your telepathy?"

"Pretty good, Overseer. My biopathy takes around seven minutes to work right now, but I can shield some minds and I can issue commands with ease." I tried to sound professional in front of her - she was a veteran soldier, and I wanted to look like I was being serious about the whole thing. Which I was. I think. Could she tell I sounded kind of nervous?

"Good. For this op, you'll be working with Kane and Zara. I'll be taking Taqi and Morita with me - we'll split into two groups this time. Try to divide the enemy force and make them a bit easier to handle. Everyone ready?" We all nodded, and after touching the orb, and one otherworldly transition, we arrived on a ruined city street in our armor and holding our weapons. Our HUDs were turned on, showing a map of the city, along with strategic points, designated in red.

"Kane, Dawn, Zara. You're going to take the bridge south of this position," Carmelita ordered. "You need to keep Collective forces from advancing past your position and onto the highway nearby. You will have generated soldiers nearby that will help you. Battlefield rules apply - they die, they're not coming back. Got it?" We both nodded. Kane was quiet. Had been since the briefing started. She turned to the two psions behind her.

"Taqi, Morita, we'll be taking the highway to the west, covering civilians while they evac. Kill any attacking forces, and give the civvies all the time you can to get the hell out of here. Understood?" They both nodded. "Okay, go!" Our teams split, and I felt the simulation shimmer. Not a moment later, gunfire and explosions shook the city, ringing in my ears.

"Stay behind me, Dawn." Kane said. His voice was...it sounded like someone who had been through a lot of shit. He sounded serious and kind of gritty, with an odd hint of anger, like a stereotypical sergeant from an action movie, and, yet, something felt wrong. Like he'd seen things he shouldn't have seen. Which he had, that much I knew.

I'd heard that his mind was something else. Aegis had briefly brought it up during a training session when discussing controlling minds, but I'd never taken how he described his mind to heart.

Until now.

"Got it." I said.

"Is this your first high-intensity fight on this scale?" He gruffly asked.

"Something like that. Never fought in such a big environment before."

"Okay. Just stick with me and Zara. If you need help, let one of us know. And focus."

"Right-" We were about to turn a corner, when the building near us exploded, sending a shockwave and a wave of debris at us. It nearly knocked me off of my feet, until Kane grabbed my shoulder with an armored hand, keeping me upright.

"Thanks." He nodded. Zara spoke up through the comms.

"Heads up! Enemies down the street!" A large group of Luranian Borelians, towering over groups of Runiararch Vitakara and...ah fuck, Cobrarians. Don't get me wrong, Cobrarians made good allies - I'd seen a few in XCOM, but, on the battlefield, seeing a giant snake charge and hiss at you was just fucking _creepy_. Not Bringer levels of creepy, but definitely unnerving.

Nothing some good ol' telepathy couldn't take care of, though. I focused on the lumbering Borelians, carrying what looked like heavy weapons. I got in their heads.

_Remember what Geist said._

_They made this choice._

_And choices have consequences._

_Take your guns. Aim them at your allies, I command you._

Plasma fire and grenades erupted, along with some kind of rocket launcher, was directed at their fellow soldiers. Vitakarians were riddled with plasma shots, and the Cobrarians were shredded by autocannons and grenades. Their deaths were quick, nearly painless. I made sure to direct them not to fire at us, as some of the Cobrarians had made it through the line of fire and made a beeline for Kane and Zara.

Both of whom took care of the problem in completely different ways.

With a wave of her hand, golden nanites flew through the air, hitting four Cobrarians and going to work, eating through their armor and flesh. I heard their screams as the nanites began to consume them. I felt their screams echo in their minds as they felt the agony of millions of tiny machines devouring them. I sent out a simple command to their minds.

_Die. Die in peace. No more pain._

As I felt them drop, I had a quick feeling of relief. Sure, they were the enemy, but if they were going to die, it'd at least be a peaceful one.

_Make their deaths quick, if you can. Show mercy, even when killing._

Kane, however, had other ideas.

Three Cobrarian were charging him, guns raised, firing. He blew one of their heads off with his massive ETC gun, but he ran out of ammunition. Rather than reload, he took out his sidearm, firing until the second fell. The third almost got to him and tried to curl around him, but he simply reached out, grabbing the alien by its throat, wrapping his massive hand around her neck. The alien squirmed for a second, before he grabbed his sidearm and shot her once in the head, dropping the body. I stared at him for a moment while he casually picked up and reloaded his gun.

_What the hell was that?_

He saw me staring, but said nothing, picked up the gun, and followed Zara, which I copied, after hesitating for a second.

 _Close range?_ _Too close for my liking._ I shook it off as I followed the two. Better to focus on the mission right now and think about strategy later.

"Dawn, you sense any enemies nearby?" We were currently running alongside a highway waterfront that would lead us to the bridge. Up in the sky, I saw fighting between some simulated planes and Collective craft. Sectoid, I thought. Well, damn if it didn't look real. T'Leth took no shortcuts when making these sims.

"No, not yet!" I extended my mind, searching for targets. "Wait..someone's coming up the road. Mutons! Elites, a whole squad!"

"Get ready!" Zara reloaded her gun. I noticed a small golden swarm gathering around her wrists. As the team came into view, we noticed that they'd brought a guest.

"Executor! Watch out!" The massive machine stopped in its tracks, and turned its massive railgun and plasma turrets towards us. It fired, a large explosion blowing a huge hole in the overpass.

"Shit! We gotta jump!" The Executor's poorly aimed shot had torn our path to the bridge in two. We'd have to jump. Time to put these legs to the test. I ran and leapt over the gap, followed by Zara and Kane. We took cover behind an overturned truck as it marched under the bridge. If that thing hit us directly, we'd be screwed.

"We need to deal with that Executor."

"Can't." Zara said. "We don't have the firepower to scratch that thing."

"So what do we do?" I asked. Zara looked at Kane. "We can't let that thing reach the bridge - it'll tear through ADVENT."

"Any air support available near us?" He asked Zara.

"Hang on, I'll speak with ADVENT Command, see what I can do." She activated her radio, exchanging a series of terse words, relaying coordinates and the like. I peered out from behind cover. The Executor and its accompanying squad had turned the corner, heading towards the bridge. Zara got off the radio and turned back to us.

"Okay, listen up! ADVENT has _one_ airstrike available right now, the rest of the fighters are already engaged in the sky- so don't expect any air cover anytime soon. I've got a Raven inbound to take out that Executor, but after that, we're on our own. Understand?"

We both nodded. I heard the scream of a Raven's engines overhead as it flew over us, dropping a series of bombs onto the tank and destroying it, shaking the ground and turning the Mutons around it to ash.

Not a bad fireworks display at all.

After a brief second, I spoke. "We should keep moving. Looks like the bridge isn't going to hold for long." Kane gestured to the target, which looked close to being overrun by the enemy. I nodded. We had to go.

As we rushed towards the bridge, I began to pick up minds. A lot of them - and most of them weren't allies. ADVENT was falling back, and was going to lose the bridge.

Not something I was going to let fly. I felt the ADVENT soldiers, felt the distress in their minds.

_Stay calm. We are here to protect you. Just hang on a little longer. We're coming for you._

"What's up on that bridge, Dawn?"

"We've got Runiararch, some Vanguards, and a group of Berserkers. I think there are some Custodians, too. Can't pick those up in my mind."

"Then we should move." _No shit, Kane._

We ran up to the bridge, just in time; the Vanguards and Berserkers were wiping out what remained of the human forces. I put down the raging Mutons with a single thought, dropping them while Zara and Kane opened fire on the Custodians. I threw a symbiote at the Vanguards, trapping one. I winced as I felt a telepathic attack on my mind.

"Shit, that hurts! Dawn, give us some cover!" I formed a mental shield around Zara's mind, but when I tried to go for Kane's, he angrily waved me off.

"No! Stay out of my mind! I'm fine!" I hesitated. _What the fuck?_ But my question was answered a moment later when a Vanguard charged up to Kane and raised a hand, attempting to telepathically attack him. Before I could shoot it, it stopped, shaking its head as if it was confused - at which point it was promptly blown apart by Kane's gun.

He seemed angry. _Really_ angry. It was almost like the telepathy made him even angrier, and he began pushing into the enemies in front of us and mowing them down.

 _What the hell is going on?_ Zara clearly seemed to notice my hesitation, and ran up to me after deploying more nanites to cover Kane's rampage.

"I'll explain later, Dawn. Right now, worry about killing enemies."

"Uh, okay!" I brushed it off, firing my plasma rifle at the oncoming Custodians. _Think of the enemy in front of you, focus, try to keep the sounds of the battlefield out of your mind as much as possible._

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Aegis. Always a pleasure.

I moved up behind my comrades, providing Zara telepathic support and scanning for more enemies. The ADVENT forces that remained, mostly MECs and infantry, were pushing up with us.

"The enemies seem to be retreating...wait."

"Zara, you good?" Then I felt something. More minds, incoming.

"Fighters! And another transport!" Kane yelled, looking skywards. I looked up, to see two Sectoid fighters incoming, with a transport trailing behind. I focused, searching for the pilots to take them down, when I felt someone tug on my shoulder, pulling me back. I realized why a moment later; an explosion ripped the ground apart in front of me where I'd just been standing.

I turned around. It was Kane. I was about to open my mouth and say thanks, when the transport arrived and dropped off two Sectopods. I'd never fought these things in a sim before, but first time for everything I guess.

"What do we do?" I yelled to my teammates.

"We don't have the firepower to take them down! We're going to have to fall back!"

I killed a squad of Mutons with a telepathic thought, but it was no use. The Sectopods opened fire, incinerating a group of MDUs with plasma missiles. We fell back as the few ADVENT soldiers left retracted. We took off running away from the bridge, just as more forces arrived, with hulking Luranian and a Herald behind them.

"Dawn, hurry! Try to stay out of the range of those launchers, otherwise you're dead!" I panted, running faster. Damn, this body could do work. We ran off the street and into a parking garage, taking a shortcut.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Yes." Kane said, his Titan armor siphoning from a wrecked car to refill its nanites. Part of me wished I could wear the Titan armor. Its tankier and bulkier form looked neat - I knew the Aurora armor was more useful, but a part of me appreciated its large, armored form. It just looked cool.

"Is it your first time fighting Sectopods?" She asked, reloading her gun.

"Yes ma'am."

"You need to have heavy weapons, like tanks, MECS, or psions - ideally, dynamos, telepaths are useless against them. Your plasma rifle and grenades aren't going to do shit,so if you encounter some, don't try to fight them unless you have air cover, tanks, or deadlier weapons. You'll get killed. Understand?"

"Yes, Zara."

"Good. We're falling back to Carmelita's position. We've got an inbound armored column to take down the enemy armor, but our primary objective is to assist Carmelita in the evacuation."

I gripped my gun tightly as the realization dawned upon me that we wouldn't be winning this battle. I knew it wasn't all glory and victory out there, even with XCOM's help, but damn, if the situation felt more and more hopeless. The most we could do was kill as many as we could and buy as much time as possible for the civilians and troops to leave and fight another day.

As I followed the duo outside through the backstreets, routinely scanning for hostiles with my mind, couldn't help but look at the ruin and destruction around me; upended homes and buildings, the streets littered with rubble and dead bodies, scorch marks and craters dotting the sidewalks and roads - the smell of burnt metal and flesh reeked.

_This is what war looks like, Dawn._

_This is what it feels like._

_Like that sniper guy said, it's not like the media version where it's all sanitized. It has consequences - deadly ones._

I couldn't keep the thoughts out of my head as I followed them. I was a kid in war, my first large-scale battle like this and a part of me felt hopelessly out of place. Kane had killed an Ethereal with his bare hands and Zara was ex-EXALT with a history of all kinds of fighting and warfare.

I was a kid whose only experience with killing before the war was swatting bugs and the occasional spider.

Despite that, I was here for a reason - my psionics. Something I had to hone. Something they trusted me with doing.

Right now, fighting and not dying was the priority.

"How far are we from Carmelita?"

"A few hundred meters." Another little thing I'd come to appreciate in XCOM was the usage of the metric system to measure things, rather than Imperial. It wasn't anything huge or difficult - I was just glad America caught up with the rest of the world in that regard.

"What's her situation?" Kane asked.

"She and her team are holding on, but the pressure's building. She's going to need all the help she can get."

I breathed a sigh of relief. If _her_ team had gone down, then we'd be screwed.

* * *

Hopefully, she'd still be hanging on when we got there.

She was. Just not by much.

When we got to her position, her armor was covered in alien blood, her sword stained with guts and who knows what else, and she was surrounded by dead aliens. The other psions were doing well, but I could tell they were getting worn out from the fighting. Zara and Kane explained the bridge situation to her, while I took cover, aimed, and prepared to engage.

_In real life, if you lose your gun, you're screwed. Not sure why these sims keep trying to throw me around, literally._

"The parameters have changed. We're going to hold this position until the rest of the timer expires."

"And how will we know that?" I nervously asked.

"When the simulation ends." The way she said that had a tint of annoyance to it. "Heads, up, enemies incoming!" I looked up, to see groups of enemies marching down the road and several transports incoming. I focused on the transports, finding the minds of the pilots - I may not have been able to influence whole armies, but if you looked in the right place, you didn't have to.

_Take your controls. See that land down there? I want you to hit it, as hard as you can. Do it quickly. Hit the ground._

Granted, I wasn't exactly that skilled just yet - but I could find the minds of the pilots, three of them, and command them. Working on influencing multiple minds was something that Aegis in particular had been helpful in. Seeing so many minds at the same time was something you had to get used to; not to mention cutting the voices out to better focus on the mission.

The three incoming transports took a nosedive into the ground, taking out the soldiers inside of them and giving us some more breathing room. Morita grabbed a group of Custodians, crushing them with her power. Taqi's shields cut through two Titans, dismembering them. Kane and Zara opened fire, with Kane using his massive gun to scatter the enemy forces, and Zara's nanites eating through them. I took cover behind a ruined APC, using its armor as additional cover while I took pot shots and killed aliens with my psionics.

They just kept coming.

"Heads up! Floaters!" A swarm of Floaters soared towards us, firing. I looked down at my hip, and took out a Thought Bomb. I'd been playing around with them in the Dreamscape, and had found the little guys to be useful.

"Carmelita! I'm going to use a Thought bomb on them! Tell the non-psions to get back!"

"No! Toss it to me, Dawn! I can hit them from here." _Well, if you say so._ I passed it to her, which she tossed, timing the explosion near-perfectly into their air, taking the group down.

"Dawn, hand me anot-"

"Watch out!" I noticed a grenade flying through their air. Morita snatched it with a grip, but it was too late. The grenade went off dangerously close to Carmelita, the blast knocking her down.

"Soldier down!" I yelled. "I don't have a medkit, what do I do?" She wasn't responding. She was alive, but _how_ alive was another question. We didn't have any medics.

"The nanites will do what they can for her!" Zara yelled. "Put her to sleep!"

"Uh, okay!" I placed a hand on her helmet, telling her to sleep.

_Hope you won't be feeling any pain for a while._

I tried to ignore the increasingly loud explosion and gunfire as I hunkered down behind the derelict armored vehicle, putting my Squad Overseer to sleep.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

"Heads up! We have to retreat _now!_ " Kane yelled. Why? I-oh no.

Heading up another incoming mob was the Dragon, Yang Shuren.

 _Oh fuck. That was new._ My mind was flooded with panic and worry. What should I do? Run? Pick Carmelita up? Shoot at the traitor?

"Dawn, run!" Morita lifted Carmelita's body up in a telekinetic grasp, obviously trying to carry her without much physical stress. As she lifted her and began to run, she yelped as she was pulled back, right onto the traitor's swords, killing her instantly, a spurt of blood coming out of her armor. I looked over at Zara, who nodded, and began to run after her.

No luck. Kane was lifted up, his neck snapped after a second. Taqi attempted to remove one of her limbs with an, admittedly, well-timed aegii shield, but her head was crushed. The scream was terrifying. I didn't know what had happened to Carmelita's body. Probably crushed, if I had to guess. As Zara and I fell back, Zara stopped in her tracks.

"What-" A sword was embedded in her head. She fell onto the ground, dead.

 _Oh no, Shitshitshitshit. What am I-_ I felt an iron grip wrapping around me, violently tugging me backwards as I tried to get my bearings. A second later, I felt a searing, sharp pain in my heart. I looked down. A sword was sticking out of my chest, covered in pain burned through my chest as I cried out, a small yet inconsequential part of me hoping she would show mercy.

A second later, I felt something touch my neck.

Then everything went black, and I reappeared in the real world. I yelped as I fell back on my ass.

"Fuck! What happened?" I looked up at my squad, staring at me. Alive. All alive.

Real seamless transition back there, T'Leth. Real smooth. I got up, shaking my head.

"The Battlemaster's Harbinger happened." Kane said angrily. I'd died in sims before, but getting killed that close and personal was new.

"How the everliving fuck were we supposed to fight _that?_ She wiped us out in a matter of seconds."

"XCOM doesn't win everything, Dawn." Carmelita said. "You did pretty well, though."

"What? But I failed! I failed my first objective, and then I got killed!"

"Because of things out of your control. I'll see your results later, but for now," She walked over to me and nodded. "Good work."

"I-um, thank you."

She briefly acknowledged me. "Everyone, lunch. Then another sim after that. You all will be sent your results later today."

Ugh. That was a hell of a trip. I noticed Zara walking up to me as everyone else filed out.

"Shall we grab lunch?"

"Lunch with the Illuminati? How could I say no?" She chuckled.

"Alright. Come along, and I'll tell you some big secrets." I knew she was being sarcastic, but it was just all for fun.

"Sure thing, Lizard Overlord."

* * *

_Therapy Office, Praesidium_

_6/28/17 - 10:00 AM_

Dr. Yates spoke to me in a very manner-of-fact voice. "Let's talk about killing."

If I wasn't in XCOM, and was talking to any other therapist, I would definitely be more worried, but, in XCOM, killing was just something you did.

"Okay. What about it?"

"Your reluctance towards doing such, at least in some cases."

"Is this about the sleeping thing?" I suspected, no, I _knew_ that Geist and Bronis talked to her regularly for these appointments. I didn't blame them, considering the situation I was in.

"Partially. I understand that although you have gotten more and more used to killing people in sims, I'd like to talk to you about how it feels, and what you think about it."

"Sure."

She nodded, bringing a tablet up. "You said that when you put those enemies in simulations to sleep, you, in real life, intended to 'free them.' Can you elaborate more on that?"

"I'd chalk it up to being naive, and pretty new at this, but if I have to be honest here, Doc, it was...kind of out of guilt. And a little empathy."

"Can you elaborate on that?"

"If I'll be honest, although I have a friend who's actually from there, I don't know much about Vitakarian society and how things work there."

"By your friend, you mean the Borelian?"

"Yes."

She nodded, making a note. "Keep going."

"Well, I can be an _optimistic_ person at times. Combine that with my general, ah, let's say _acceptance_ for the aliens in XCOM, and I got under a false narrative that some of them could be as reasonable as the ones here."

I sighed. "I guess that I have a problem with applying human logic to aliens and believing that they'll think the same way. They won't."

"Understandable." She nodded, and kept on taking notes.

"I thought that, with my current experience with the aliens here, and the knowledge of why the enemy was fighting, with the lies and deception and all of that, I thought I could use my telepathy to hopefully maybe show them another way."

"And by 'another way' you mean that they live under oppression and lies?"

"Yes."

"But you do realize that the soldiers you will be fighting _chose_ to do this willingly. With exception of the Mutons, of course. You mentioned Vitakara as your target for this, right?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. So by that logic, why not also save Mutons?" She sounded like she was simply being inquisitive. She had a point.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"But by your logic, the Mutons are even greater victims than the Vitakara. They are essentially slaves, trained from birth and stripped from their mothers and fathers to train to be nothing but cannon fodder. Don't you think that is a worse fate then the Vitakara?"

I gulped. "That's true. I talked with Geist about it, and he said the same thing."

"What else did he say?"

"He said that he chalked it up to me being new and still learning about all of this. He's not wrong."

"And was this thought process in any way a mechanism to avoid killing?"

"Maybe. No, no. It wasn't about the killing directly, it was about the guilt of killing. When I kill people with a gun or my psionics, sure it's easy in the moment to do it for a lot of people, but afterwards, sometimes I just have this guilt."

"Like regretting killing them."

"Yes."

"And you regret killing them why?"

I sighed. "I know that I'll have to - otherwise, they'll kill me. There's no question about that. I just regret that I have to, considering the circumstances."

"Like your age?"

"One of them, yes. This whole war is just really fucked up - pardon my words, Doc. I'll kill if it means the defeat of the Collective, and I'm sure as hell going to do that. I just wish that this whole clusterfuck wasn't a thing. The Bringer. The Ethereals. Patricia. Whatever the fuck was in New York. It's just gotten to a point where sometimes I just wonder in my head 'what the hell is going on?'."

I paused, searching for the right words to express my frustration. "It's just so messed up. I want to do my part in helping end this shitshow of a war. The Ethereals and their machinations have caused so much bad shit, and sure, I'll take out their soldiers any day, but it's their fault for invading Earth, starting all these atrocities. It's not right."

"So your frustration is centered on the Ethereals."

"Yes. They've enabled both themselves and other people to do these things. They started this war, and if I live to tell the tale, I'm sure as hell going to help end it however I can. If that means me dying, certainly. But if I get the chance to kill one…"

"And this correlation relating to this conflict being the Ethereal's fault leads into your reluctance to kill at certain points?"

"I guess. Looking back, maybe it was an innate reaction to killing - maybe by putting them to sleep, I could avoid some of the guilt or aftereffects of killing someone or something."

I sarcastically chuckled. "But I guess I was wrong. I guess looking forward, the only way to fight and survive is to kill them, so in the long run their respective organizations might fall, paving the way for something else. Isn't that ironic. The only way to save them is to kill them."

The irony was quite apparent, even now.

"And is that an idea you have accepted?"

I shrugged. "It's something I know I have to come to terms with. I mean, considering my age, I've gotten mostly used to killing. Does it freak me out sometimes? Yes. Does it make me feel guilty sometimes after? Yes. But deep down, I know it's necessary for my job, so I'll do it. In any other situation, I'd think I was too young to do things like this - too much pressure. But here? I've got a great support system, good friends, good teachers. I think I can handle it."

She nodded, taking more notes. "So how do you feel about the statement that you've grown more accustomed to the environment here?"

"Well, it's accurate. I've gotten used to my new sleep schedule, activities, etc.. When I first got here, I was super worried about not being able to keep up. Sure, it's not high school, but at least it's not _too_ strict. I can let loose with my friends- going to the pool, for instance. I had my first beer - super fun. And watching shit with them, too? That's even more fun. I get to relax, and can still act like a teenager sometimes."

"Do you think the other soldiers think you are immature?"

I shook my head. "Not for the most part. I think I would've gotten a complaint, or however that works here. I mean, I don't think anyone here expects any less of me than they would of any other soldier. I've made good progress here, and people are happy with that."

"Mmmm. Last question."

"Go ahead."

"I've noticed you haven't been talking to your parents as much lately, yet you've also been making consistent trips to see you sister, as well as voice calls to your friend in the PRIESTs. Are you feeling disconnected from your family?"

"Somewhat."

"May I ask why?"

"It's...complicated. But I'll do my best to explain. My uncle served in the War on Terror, under some guy named Van Doorn." As soon as I said that, she paused, her face still she'd seen a ghost.

"Doc? You all right?"

"Yes Dawn, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. It's nothing. Please continue."

"He came back from the war with a medal or two, but he was never the same. He had PTSD and it nearly destroyed him. He saw things...horrible things, and he saw a lot of his friends die. He had to be committed to mental health treatment for a while, and, while he's a little better now, it had an effect on my mom. For a while, she became more disconnected from us. More quiet. They'd grown up together, they were basically best friends. And when she heard her little innocent girl was off to join XCOM, well…"

I stopped talking for a minute, not knowing what to say. My mom didn't deserve to have that happen to her brother. Frederic was a good man - he was like a second dad to me when I was a kid, the epitome of the 'cool uncle'. And now, war had turned him into a shadow of his former self. Words couldn't describe how horrible I felt about him. He didn't deserve what happened to him - no one did.

And yet I was putting myself in a situation just as bad, if not worse. He'd seen people get mutilated beyond recognition - could my young mind stand facing a Bringer abomination up-close, or take the possible forced insanity of a psionic attack by a Hive Commander or an Ethereal?

She was torn up about it, because of my actions.

"It didn't go well with her. She acts pretty okay when she talks to me, but Grace has told me that mom's been thinking about going to therapy again. She and Dad have been really stressed about this."

"And you think this is your fault?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

She nodded, and put her pad down. "I've noticed a trend in your responses as of late. You seem to mention guilt quite a lot during these sessions. Would you agree?"

"I suppose."

"The guilt seems to be related to both killing and the effects your job has had on your family. Would you say that this guilt was from your conscience?"

"I mean...it's just me coping and getting used to this. Back in the PRIESTs, we all knew we were going to kill people. But, there, things weren't so...real, so in-your-face. No Dreamscape simulations, no in-depth info on all the shit going on behind the scenes. Looking back, it felt more sanitized then what XCOM is. I'm glad that I know all of this...and yet parts of me aren't. It's a double-edged sword, and I feel like I've bitten off way more than I could chew."

"Have you considered leaving?"

My eyebrows shot up. "I'm sorry?"

"Dawn, I'm not asking it like I want you to. I'm simply asking you if it's ever crossed your mind."

I gulped. "I mean...at this point, I feel like it wouldn't be right to leave, knowing the things I know. I feel like I have a duty, an _obligation_ with my powers. I'm Humanity's only biopath. I can't just waste those powers. If I can get good enough, I could kill an Ethereal with my abilities. That's something we need to even get the slightest edge in this war to win."

"Do you feel trapped?"

"I don't get what you're saying?"

"Do you, in any way, shape, or form, feel 'trapped' by this obligation to XCOM?"

"Uh, no. If you don't mind me asking, why so?" She put the tablet down.

"I was asking that, if you felt like, because of your special abilities, your obligation to stay here, combined with your anxiety about working, here made you feel trapped."

I tilted my head, confused. "How so?" _Where was she going with this?_

"You've said before that you know you were invited to join XCOM because of your abilities."

"Correct."

"Yet you've also stated in previous sessions that you sometimes felt uncomfortable with the environment and doubted yourself, as well as the aforementioned guilt of both killing and causing a divide in your family. Dawn, what I'm asking is if you've ever felt like leaving, but your responsibilities have you feeling like you're trapped."

I considered what she was saying. Did I feel trapped here, because of my feelings and my powers, and the obligations associated with it leading to a sort of mental and emotional conundrum?

"I...I can see where you're coming from, Doc. Sometimes it does feel like a conundrum to me. Sometimes I do wonder about it all. If I belong. If I deserve it. How it'll impact me in the future. What effect it'll have on me as a person. Do I feel trapped? No. Do I feel conflicted here sometimes? Yes. For now, I'm pretty okay with my situation, but if something, anything comes up, I'll tell you."

She took more notes. "Very well then." She nodded. "Well, Dawn, it looks like our therapy session has wrapped up." She took a look at her tablet. "Same time next week?"

"Same time next week."

"Alright, but I have something for you. Homework."

"Homework? I'm too old for homework." I said with obvious sarcasm.

She smirked. "When you get the chance Dawn, I'd like for you to talk to your mother. Alone."

"Why so?"

"Perhaps some conversation with her alone about your current situation could help with your relationship to her. If you'd like to, I could help moderate during this conversation. I'd need your permission of course, but if you want to, I could help."

I nodded. "I'll think about that. Anything else?"

"No."

"See you, Doc." I sat up and walked out of the office, my heart aching as I considered my homework. Talking to my mom about _that?_ It was a sensitive subject for her, but I wasn't sure if I could handle that.

_Dawn, you're in XCOM. You're responsible. You can figure out a mature way to talk to your mother about this._

I sighed, blinked, and walked off to the Nolan Room. _Let's take this off of my mind by kicking some alien ass. Why not?_

As I started to change direction, I noticed Sierra wave me over, followed by a posse of Archangels.

_Well, damn. Maybe today won't be so bad after all._

* * *

_The Dreamscape_

_6/30/17 - 1:20 PM_

_C'mon Dawn, get in his mind. I know you can do it. Find the cracks, slip in there. See what you can do. He's not Aegis - there has to be a way inside._

My attack against him intensified - I focused my power like a lance against the barricade that was his mind, trying to brute-force it if low-level manipulation wouldn't faze him. He stood there, completely passive, waiting for me to break through. The scene was kind of funny - me, standing there, eyes closed, body tensed, teeth gritted, and fists balled while he just stood comically still.

_C'mon, find_ _**something** _ _damnit. There has to be something-_

"You've been trying for ten minutes, Dawn. You should probably stop now." I sighed. He was right.

"Aegis training you really well." I said to Caelior. "Your mind is incredibly well-protected. I don't know what he taught you, but it is _tough_ to get into. Nice work."

"That is appreciated. Aegis has been good to me since I officially joined XCOM. I have learned much from both him and your people. The one you call Geist also assisted in my improved telepathic capabilities."

"Geist taught you?" He'd never mentioned that when I was training with him. Huh.

"Yes. He helped refine the foundations I was taught by the Empire."

I nodded. "He's a good teacher, yeah? He's been teaching me since day one. You know he actually used to be a teacher before coming here?"

"I would not be surprised."

"Yeah, chemistry. He taught high schoolers. Like me."

"An adolescent instructor?" He asked inquisitively, for clarification.

"Well, maybe? It's basically...ah, how do I explain this? Do you know what college is?"

"A specialist academy, no?"

"Yeah, specialized education is a good description. Anyway, high school is basically the last part of school, right around when you grow up to be a teenager. It has subject-based classes, like history, science, math, et cetera. It's to prepare you for college and the real world. Takes around four years to do."

"Ah. Yes, we Ethereals had similar studies along with psionic instruction. Our equivalent of your college would be 'Advanced Learning'. Our lifespans allowed such studies to be longer than four years, though, and went suitably in-depth. Biology, physics, and quantum theory were all common subjects, in addition to psychology and telepathic manipulation. There were others, of course. Biomedicine, I particularly disliked, though it was useful in some aspects. Computation and genetics were also useful, though two decades for each is significant."

He stopped when he saw my jaw hit the floor. I thought I didn't know much when I joined XCOM, and I knew Ethereals were much smarter than us, but _that_ much education? Would my brain even be physically able to process all of that information in his head?

"Twenty years of math?" I could barely handle pre-calculus. He probably learned that shit in preschool. So many questions went through my mind. Did they have parties? Prom?

"Correct."

"That's...a lot."

"We are immortal, Dawn. We learn much more outside of primary education. In my case however, my education was interrupted by the invasion of the Synthesized. My skills as a telekine did not go unnoticed, nor did the circumstances of my birth."

"Can I see?" I blurted out.

He angled his head to the side. "See what?"

"Ethereal school, I'd like to see what that looked like. It sounds...cool."

"An...interesting request. I will see if T'Leth can accommodate us." He waved his hand, and the room around us changed into a large classroom.

Filled with Ethereals.

Startled, I jumped, yelpling.

"This is only an illusion, Dawn. Observe."

I stepped away from Caelior, gazing at the classroom. It was much bigger than any classroom I'd seen, probably because the students were so tall. All of them were tall, at least six and a half feet, if I had to guess. All of them were wearing robes - nothing as fancy like the Battlemaster or any other I'd seen. Must be what they wore if they weren't soldiers.

The room itself was...somewhat ornate. More fancy than my school, I'd give it that. It was a basic circle-shape, yet the walls transitioned into the roof through curves, sort of like a church. The desks were simple; chairs with a small table. No books, just a few scattered tablets. The front of the room was covered in a massive hologram-projector...I think. The teacher was giving a lesson by projecting a massive 3-D hologram of an Ethereal.

The room itself was...something about it was enthralling. The silver coloring, how...clean the place was. The projections all across the walls of various different things all blended together very well, the blue glows of the screens were the only source of light in the room, besides the ringed lights on the ceiling.

"How can you tell them all apart? Everyone here looks extremely similar. But their robes have different designs and all. Is it the robes, or something else?" The robes varied in color and style form person-to-person. Some had a light tan, while others had a deep royal purple; others had mixes of different colors, but nothing too flashy. Maybe they had to follow some kind of dress code?

"Every Ethereal has their own unique telepathic aura. I recognize this class. History."

"This was your classroom?"

"One of many." He said that more softly, yet I could hear an ounce of pain behind that. No sense of nostalgia at all.

"Which one is you?"

He pointed to a figure near the front of the class. The robe design and color was similar to what he wore now, but with less armor.

Then the teacher began to speak. In English.

"Regina then unified the clans through agreements and conquest, her own clan enhanced through genetic modification, secrets which were then shared with those who were allied to her. Through her actions, our kind was united-"

The voice was female, no doubt. I was initially surprised that she was speaking English, but then again, this was a simulation. She sounded less calming and relaxing then Sana did, but you could definitely tell it was a woman. As she went on explaining what sounded to me like early Ethereal history, I listened aptly. Several of the students pulled their tablets out and began to type, taking notes. Others utilized the desk-screens which projected an interactable haptic display. None of them even made a sound - besides the teacher, they were quiet as night.

"Why aren't they talking?"

"It was not necessary. They are using telepathic communication."

"What?"

He snapped his fingers, and suddenly voices began to appear in my head.

_Do you have the notes from yesterday?_

_I almost beat a record in psionic training last week…_

_That is nothing compared to what Caelior did._

_Why are we hearing about this again?_

"...wow. It's definitely nicer than mine."

"How much nicer?" I gazed at the intricacy of the hologram - a figure who I assumed was this 'Regina', which sentences in some kind of language hovering around it.

"Very. Very much." I was enthralled by the picture. It was so...surreal.

"I almost miss it some days. This particular memory was several weeks before I was." He stopped talking for a second. " _Recruited_ to the Maelstrom."

"And later, fought in the war."

"Yes. Many things changed for me. I believed I was powerful. A weapon that gave hope to my people and the Empire. I believed I was strong. That nothing could stop me."

"But then you joined us, and learned the truth."

He nodded. "My great victories were staged. I was used as a tool by the Empire, a proxy of the Shadows. Not even destroying a Director Flagship was solely of my own doing."

I didn't know what exactly that was, and something told me I definitely didn't want to know. As he continued, I felt his mental defense begin to slip. His voice changed.

"I was arrogant. Prideful. Used. I believed I was superior, and yet here I am. Standing amongst you humans, who only a few months ago, I was crushing with my psionics." His voice had changed. It had gotten quieter. Angrier.

"Hey," I tried to say in my most relaxing voice. "It wasn't entirely your fault. You were being toyed with, and you've more then redeemed yourself in front of humanity-"

"No." I felt his aura change. I found it harder to pick my feet off of the ground. The frozen picture of the school began to vibrate, the colors and proportions becoming distorted.

"They used me. And I willingly permitted it. They _lied_. They _all_ lied to me."

The air around me began to tighten, my limbs shaking. Oh fuck. His telekinesis.

"I was just a tool, and I fell for it! In the Empire, and now! Thinking I could fight Aegis and win- _so_ _ **idiotic!**_ "

I gasped, my body tightening. His aura had grown, everything in the environment shaking.

"So _gullible!_ " The pictures began to change. A family. A school. Some kind of ship in the midst of a battle somewhere in space. And was that in the background - oh my god.

It was-

And then it all stopped and a visibly dejected Caelior and myself stood within the regular Dreamscape, murky blue-black endless abyss

" _Namater. Kamenen._ I have failed you." His voice was almost completely different - sad, filled with remorse and sorrow.

_Who the hell was that he was talking about? His parents?_

I gathered myself, and stood up, feeling a little disoriented but fine.

"C...Caelior? Are you ok?" He said nothing, still on the ground. I inched closer to him.

"Hey, hey. Listen to me. It's going to be ok, ok? I'm just going to get Aegis, and then we'll-"

"No. I have no need for that." He stood up, turning to me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm-I'm good. Are you alright?"

"Not at the moment, Dawn. It is...I am working on it."

"Working on what?" My voice was quieter, my mind filled with various worries.

"Coming to terms with being myself. It has been hard, even with Aegis and your kind's help, to better myself and overcome that which allowed me to be toyed with. I am not the person I once was. I am getting better, but it will take a while before I have fully moved on. Yet…" He walked closer to me.

"Yet what?"

"Yet you cannot let that happen to you."

"I - what?"

"I have always been powerful, Dawn. From the moment I was born, I was seen as a prodigy. I had much power and talent, yet I had no proper motivation or incentive to show it. Until now. But you." He pointed to me. "You have a skill, a great skill that few can do well, even if your application is not perfect."

He wasn't wrong. I was still fairly new at biopathy. I was better than the Dawn that had walked into XCOM, but I still had a ways to go.

"Back during the war, back in Japan, I went into battle believing I could truly accomplish whatever I wanted. I believed I had both skill and the talent to use to my advantage, and yet I did not. And it nearly killed me. It got me closer to death than any other battle I had ever fought before."

"But you learned from that."

"I did, but you must understand Dawn, you have a gift. Like me, but I did not use it right. It was only thanks to Aegis and XCOM that I could truly become a better psion. I lacked skill and effort. You, as of now, lack skill."

I struggled to understand what he was getting at.

"Wait. You want me to learn from you."

"To take a lesson from my example, yes. Do not let what happened to me happen to you. We can both learn from one another, Dawn. I lacked competence and power. You, as of now, must not ignore that. You must understand, I wasted what I had. I should have learned to be better earlier, not now. And it almost got me killed. You must learn. Train. Understand. Grow. Do not become what I once was."

That was something. And he really meant it. I'd never heard him speak like that to me before. It had weight, emotion...even a little bit of pain.

I was about to open my mouth when Aegis appeared.

"Caelior. Dawn. I see you have been busy."

"Aegis." Caelior greeted.

"What are you doing here, Dawn?" Aegis inquired

"Talking with Caelior. Advice and things like that. We also did some telepathy exercises."

"I see. We will have our own session later as scheduled."

"Of course. Have fun, Caelior." As I walked past Aegis towards the door that would take me back to the real world, Caelior spoke to me telepathically.

_Remember what I told you, Dawn. Do not forget your mortality. Do not forget what you can do. But do not forget your potential._

I took what he said to heart.

_Thank you, Caelior. Good luck with your training._

_I appreciate it and...thank you….for listening to that. For staying back there. And thank you. For being a friend._

_Any day, buddy._

As I re-entered my physical body and took my hand off of the orb, walking past Aegis and Caelior's frozen bodies as I left the room, I stared for a second at Caelior's immobile form.

_I'm sorry._

_I'm so sorry._

_No one deserves what you went through. Bring toyed. Used like that._

As I walked back to my bunk, I went over what he had said in my mind. _You have a great talent, yet you lack the skill to use it._

He wasn't wrong. I was recruited here because of my biopathy - something I'd definitely improved on, getting it down to the single digits in minutes. Yet it wasn't entirely ready for frontline combat. My regular telepathy mostly was, yet the skill that I was valued for was not ready to be properly deployed.

That was something that I needed to change.

I couldn't walk onto the battlefield all high and mighty, pretending I was some kind of mini-Mortis. No - that arrogance would get me killed...or worse.

I had to train. I had to be prepared. I had to bring myself up to greater heights if I wanted to do well in battle - if I wanted to learn and grow, as Geist - and I - wanted.

But when it came time for me to truly step onto the battlefield, that would be when my true test would begin. Concentrating under fire, and not breaking. Following orders and executing them. Killing the enemy. Protecting my comrades and friends.

I would leave behind the Dawn Conley that was known back home, to my family and friends.

But a small part of me twinged in fear.

I wanted to keep at least a part of who I used to be. That girl who cracked jokes, smiled, and tried to put a positive spin on things. The girl who comforted her crying friend after her boyfriend broke up with her. The girl who was trusted enough by her sister to tell her something her parents wouldn't want to hear. The girl who, no matter what, always had hope in the back of her head. The hope that drove her to walk into that PRIEST recruitment center that day.

I would have to leave almost all of that girl behind.

But truly, how much was I willing to sacrifice?

* * *

To be continued in:

**Reconciliation**


	11. Reconciliation

_Dreamscape, Praesidium_

_6/26/17- 3:05 PM_

_Expand your sphere of influence._

That was one of the lessons that Aegis had been teaching me since I got here, but now that I'd gotten a solid hold on my powers, I had begun to fully embrace it.

The goal was simple: expand my telepathic reach, and influence as many enemies as possible. I was one of XCOM's most powerful telepaths, on paper, and it would be a waste if I didn't use that power to its fullest extent.

Aegis was standing behind me, silent and watching. In front of me stood a group of twenty immobile Runiararch soldiers, idly waiting for me to make the first move.

"Eliminate them however you see fit. Your goal here is to influence as many of them as possible. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Aegis."

"Begin."

I stared intently at them, focusing on as many as I could.

 _Three. Five. Seven. Nine. Ten...eleven. That's it. Come on. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen...come on._ I closed my eyes, focusing, trying to encompass more. I blocked the voices in my head as much as possible. _Sixteen...ah, screw it._

Ten of them died instantly, the other six opening fire on the other four, cutting them down seconds later.

"Good." He looked down at me. "You did not eliminate all of the ones under your control."

"Insurance," I explained. "In case the others managed to open fire on the ones I was controlling, just in case." He said nothing, only nodding.

"Good. Geist has taught you well. Let us move on." He waved a hand, and two squads of ADVENT soldiers appeared. "Defend their minds from mental assaults."

"Any rules or guidelines for this?"

"Do not allow a majority to succumb. Project their minds for as long as you can." I nodded.

"Let me know when you are ready." I focused my mind on theirs, extending my mental reach as I visualized small fortresses around their minds, just as the aforementioned Ethereal taught me.

See, that was an aspect of telepathy not many non-Psions realized: to us telepaths, visualization was key to how we operate. In order to give a command, be it to an ally or enemy, a telepath cannot simply _say_ 'do this' or 'do that'. We must first make it in our minds, an example that helps to achieve the goal, be that an order, or, in my case, an example to help me focus.

I built a wall around their minds, keeping them secure in a way no one else could.

_Remember Dawn. In real life, these are real people, real lives you would be protecting. People who you're supposed to be protecting. You cannot forget that. These may be fake, yes, but it's a reminder of what you'll actually be doing out there._

"Ready," I said. An instant later, I felt Aegis' power creeping towards their minds. He was _powerful_. In order to truly understand how terrifyingly powerful an Ethereal really is, you needed to see them in action. Watching a vid was one thing, but actually _being_ there when they fought was another.

This was no exception.

I felt him attack...not one person, but everyone. At once. He wasn't showing any mercy here, not going easy on me. Not that I wanted him to - I had to prepare myself for the actual battle. The enemy wasn't going to give you a break or prep time in a war. They would keep pushing until one of you was reduced to nothing.

His attack felt like a wave of pain and anguish, slamming into my defenses like a gargantuan tidal wave of power. I cringed as the soldiers felt it too, many reeling in pain. I focused, trying to hold the line.

_Don't let him win. Don't let him break them. I'm not going to fall. You are not going to fall. Just hang on._

I could feel him pushing, the pressure building as the pain began to grow. I felt my defenses begin to slowly slip.

 _ **No!**_ I channeled more emotion and fury into my attacks, trying to keep him out. My hands balled into fists, my teeth gritting as I tried to push back as much as I could.

 _You will not touch them. You will not touch them. They are_ mine _, not yours._

Putting emotion into telepathy was a strategy they taught us from day one. Putting more emotion into your attacks and defenses seemed to enhance telepathic ability. That's why, in the simulation where I fought those Titans solo, my biopathy seemed to drastically speed up during my bout of rage, something I couldn't exactly replicate on a daily basis, but it was something to consider and play with.

Geist, Aegis, and I had experimented with it, and I had indeed managed to do it several times. Not that I could do it constantly - the amount of times I had done it since the simulation could be counted on one hand, but it was something that intrigued me. If rage and pain was what triggered _that_ \- what could other intense bouts of emotions do?

But that was something to consider later. Right now I had to protect these soldiers from Aegis' attacks, not to think about emotions. I could feel the soldiers' pain in my mind. I was doing the best I could, but even then, my best was not enough. All I could do was prolong their protection for as long as was humanly possible.

 _Humanly possible._ Funny how that term worked now these days.

I felt his attacks push harder and harder on my defenses, the walls slowly beginning to crack and bend. The pressure built, and everyone except Aegis felt it. I kept my focus, trying to keep the soldiers' minds safe. I felt sweat drip down my face as the strain of protecting them slowly began to get to me. I could almost feel him in my mind.

_You will lose._

_They will fall to me._

_You are nothing._

I growled, desperately trying to keep my allies safe against my teacher's attacks. I knew I could never defeat him, not alone. But I could slow him down. Just a little longer.

_Just a little longer, Dawn. You can do it. You can do it. Just keep it together, and you can-_

A massive wave of power hit them, smashing my defenses. It all came crashing down as I felt the pain of the soldier's minds being taken over by the Ethereal. I felt their screams, their pain, their anguish, as their minds, their personalities, were swept away like nothing, bearing the brunt of Aegis' power. I stumbled, almost falling over as I recoiled from the shock.

I screamed, breaking out of my trance as the simulation ended, the background fading away to the default setting. It was just me and him now.

_Remember the exercises. Count to five. Breathe in. Count to five. Breathe out._

"Are you in pain?"

"No." I huffed, taking the helmet off and wiping the sweat off of my face with an armored gauntlet. This guy really did not fuck around. But then again, who didn't in XCOM? "How did I do?" I asked, in between heavy breaths.

"Acceptably. You protected them for an ample amount of time, as required."

"Yeah, I guess I did." I put a hand to my head.

"Are you in pain?" He repeated.

I nodded. "Yes."

"What caused it?"

"You," I said quietly. "Their pain."

He strode over, towering over me. "Are you having trouble adjusting to it?"

"No," I said. "It's just so overwhelming sometimes."

"That is intentional."

"I know, I know. It's just...damnit, it hurts a lot."

"I understand it. Such tolerance was built up during my own training."

"I know. It's just…" I gazed past the Ethereal, staring into the void. "I feel sometimes, like I am too young for this. That I shouldn't be feeling this kind of pain at this point in my life."

"No, you should not. But you made the choice to come, even before XCOM."

"I know, Aegis. It's just...I guess I'm still truly coming to terms with what I'm doing here. What I'll be doing."

"You have doubts."

"Let me guess. You've-"

"Had them? Yes. Though not as you do. You are training in an environment that is not conducive to learning, nor in a situation where you can become fully confident in yourself before a trial. That was a luxury I had, which you do not. Had I become an Aegis during the Synthesized War, it would doubtless have been a different environment. You are a Human, you are young, and your species is more emotional than mine. If there is something I can offer, it would be this:"

"What?" For a moment, he said nothing.

"That these doubts will fade when you use them in a real situation. When the weight of expectations fades, and you will become comfortable with what you are capable of. Words and speeches will not give you the innate confidence you desire. Only action, and the day where you are tested is coming. I am confident you will match our expectations."

"Thank you Aegis, but it's not just that. I've been having some doubts as of late."

"Beyond what you have said?"

"Yeah. I feel like I'm stepping into something way out of my league here, you know? Sometimes I wonder if I'm really cut out for this, and it's been popping up more and more as of late."

"I can only repeat what I said."

"I know." My shoulders slumped. "Since you're one of my teachers, I thought I should tell you. Trust and all."

"It is good to share, and such thoughts appear to be natural for Humans. With my own advice given, I cannot relate to a Human mindset such as you have. Speaking with another, more qualified for the Human mind, might give you confidence I cannot."

 _Yeah, I can tell._ I understood his awkward response. As good a teacher as he was, he wasn't as emotional as me or Caelior. He wasn't a natural birth or a human - he was an alien, and he had his ways of dealing with emotions - what little I could detect, of course.

But it made me wonder - what else was going on in that head of his? He'd seen more people die in war than I probably ever would, not to mention losing his mentor and his student to those machine things.

_Thank you Caelior, for accidentally showing me during that vision._

All of that had to take a toll on someone - and that's not even counting this war, with him fighting his own kind. I couldn't help but wonder if something was going on with him. No, not _if_.

"Let us continue, Dawn."

"Right...and thank you for listening. Ah, what was next again?"

"Protecting your mind from a direct telepathic assault."

Lovely.

Hopefully this time would be less painful.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_6/24/17 - 7:30 PM_

"Hey mom." I stared at my mother's face through the screen. She looked...different. There was a look in her eyes that was missing something. She looked almost empty, tired. She looked like she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep recently - there were large bags under her eyes.

She put on a somewhat forced smile. " _Hey Dawn. How are you?_ "

"I'm good Mom. How are things in Tennessee?"

She didn't answer for a moment. " _They're fine. For the most part._ "

'What do you mean?"

" _People are scared. Busan...terrified a lot of people here. They're worried that any day now the Collective's going to use...whatever that thing was to hit us. And New York too…whatever happened there._ "

I didn't say anything in response to that. Far as I knew, not even the Imperator himself knew what those were. As for the Reinarm Cannon... well, now we knew it existed, and could probably think of something to counter it.

" _The war's affected everyone here in some way, Dawn. Do you remember the Ray family?_ "

"Yeah. They have a daughter, didn't they?" I remembered they'd had a kid, the same age as me. Didn't interact with them much, but I heard she was kind of nice. Mom looked down.

" _They_ _ **did**_ _. She was killed in Busan. Her body couldn't be recovered. Her family can't even bury her. They're torn up about it ever since they learned - they've barely left their house_." I felt a sudden pang of guilt in my chest. I didn't even know her name, and she was dead. Another victim of the Collective. People like her were why XCOM existed - to protect humanity against the alien threat - _any_ alien threat.

 _XCOM doesn't win everything, Dawn._ Carmelita's words reverberated through my mind as I thought about what my mother had said.

"Mom, if you want to, you can move to XCOM's family base. You'll be safe there, and-"

She held up a hand. " _Dawn, we've been over this. Your father and I, while we support you, aren't entirely comfortable with your choice to join XCOM. And if we left, we'd have to leave the house behind, our neighbors, our friends, our jobs… Dawn, we've built a life here, and-_ "

I couldn't blame them. They had to move halfway across the country from our hometown of Nashville to Augusta to be near me when I entered the PRIESTs, then moved back when I joined XCOM, spare my sister. To say my family had been through a lot was an understatement, and don't get me started on my extended family's reactions to it. That was a "whole 'nother story", as Mary would've put it.

But I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them.

"But you're putting yourself in danger, the both of you! I doubt the aliens know anything about me, but that's not going to last forever. You'll be safe in XCOM, no one's going to touch or harm you here."

I sighed, then moved on.

"Mom, the reason I called you was to talk about something."

" _What's that_?"

"Our relationship. It's changed a lot since I joined up, and I wanted to talk to you about it one-on-one."

She raised an eyebrow. " _That seems a bit out of nowhere._ "

"Do you not have time to talk about this?"

" _I do. Just...wasn't ready for that question._ "

I gulped. "I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about this later?"

She shook her head. " _No. So, what exactly do you want to talk about with me regarding this?_ "

_Okay Dawn. Don't fuck this up. Just tell her how you really feel, and be honest about it._

"Alright. But mom, I'm gonna be a bit honest here, and you may not like what I have to say about this." She gave a slight nod, and blinked.

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "Mom. I understand why you and dad are angry about what I did. I'm going to talk to him later, but I decided to talk to you first, since he's been busy lately." I'd heard from Grace that he had been picking up more shifts at work lately. She suspected he'd done it to distract himself from the issue at hand of his daughters 'going rogue', as she'd jokingly referred to it.

But I felt as if it was something worse. Mom and Dad had loved each other for a long time, yes, but I had a feeling that this was putting a strain on their marriage, and that Dad was taking on more work to avoid dealing with the clusterfuck of… whatever the hell this had become.

If I was right, then the situation between them was worse than I'd thought.

And it was all my fault. For making this choice. Leaving everything behind. Making-no!

_No Dawn, it's not your fault. It's their choice for staying behind._

" _Dawn_?"

"Sorry mom. It's just…" I almost bit my lip. This was going to hurt, and part of me didn't feel like I should say it at all. Yet if I didn't, that would only further things between me and her. Here, honesty was not simply just the best policy - it was the only one.

"Mom. When I joined XCOM, I understood how you felt. _Why_ you felt that way. Believe me, if I was in your position and my kids did the same thing, I'd feel the same way." I paused, collecting myself. "I know part of the reason you were angry at me is what happened to your brother. I know you're afraid of what happened to him happening to me." Her eyes widened, as if I'd read her mind through the screen.

"I know how you feel. Trust me, parts of me feel that way, too. I know I'm going to kill people. It's… probably going to be a lot, I won't lie. Do I feel ready to do it? Mostly. But it's my job. I have something very special, Mom. Something no one else can do. I can use it to fight the enemy. Save lives. Protect people. I know you didn't want this for me and my sister when we were born. To go into this kind of situation and kill people, much less melt them."

"I know you don't want me to end up like Uncle Frederic. You wouldn't be a good mother if you didn't worry about us. And I love you for that. I always will. But you and dad raised us well. So well. You cared for us and loved us through so much. And thanks to the two of you, I'm who I am now. But I'm an adult now, and there's a time when your kid has to leave the nest. And without you and dad, I don't think I'd be any more fit for this."

" _Dawn-_ " She began to speak, but I held up my hand.

"Let me finish. I guess what I'm saying is, is that I'm doing this because I want to. I did this because you and dad raised a good, loving, caring person who you're very proud of. And you don't want her to fade away. I understand that. But it's time for me to take the stage of my own life now. Take the things you both taught me. Showed me. Things we couldn't have done without the two of you. It's time for me to tell my own story, and I couldn't have done it without my parents."

I finished speaking, and awaited her response. She sniffled, wiping a tear from her eyebrow.

" _I...thank you, honey. That was sweet of you to say. That was a lot. Can I...I'm sorry_." She sniffled more, her voice cracking.

 _Fuck, was that too much?_ "Can you what?" I said cautiously.

" _I need to think. About all of this._ " I nodded.

"That's ok Mom. You do that if you want to."

" _I really don't want to take up any of your time. I'm sure you're bus-_ "

"No Mom, I've got nothing scheduled for right now. I'm going to talk to my therapist again. Would you mind joining that conversation?"

" _Yes. Just tell me a time, and we can work it out, okay?_ " I smiled. Progress. _Yes!_

"Maybe we can call again? And I can show you some of my friends?"

Her eyes lit up - her face was a light shade of red. " _That would be nice. Didn't you say earlier that you had one that would be interested in meeting me?_ "

I gulped. "Yeah, but she _may_ or may not be an eight foot tall alien covered in white fur with claws." I decided not to mention Caelior, as that might be too much for her.

" _You being serious right now?_ "

I smirked. "Want to find out?" I teased.

" _Try me_."

"Wait, are you being serious?"

" _If you trust her. Not sure how Dad would react, but we'll see._ "

"Thanks Mom."

" _Any day, sweetie. I gotta go, but...thank you. For telling me all that. Just give me some time to think, ok?_ "

"Okay."

" _See you later. Love you._ "

"Love you!" She disconnected a few seconds later, leaving me to stare at a black screen.

 _Well, that was something._ I thought, climbing out of bed and putting my boots on. She'd heard me out, taken what I'd said into consideration, and the whole conversation didn't go south as I thought it would. And her wanting to meet Carreria. Hoo boy, that'd be something.

Hopefully she wouldn't scare my parents off.

"Who was that?" Lian asked, as she walked up to me. "Sorry, I was chatting and I noticed you were talking."

"Oh, that. It was my mom."

She raised an eyebrow. "Your mother? Are things better between you two?"

"Yeah. We talked about it, gave my mom some of the old Conley charm. I'll talk with my dad later once I find time."

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah, it is. Went better than I thought. Spoken to yours lately?"

"They're dead. Beijing." She said in a flat tone.

I put a hand to my mouth in a knee-jerk reaction, as if that somehow would stop her from ever hearing the words I spoke.

"I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's fine." she paused for a moment. "One of the many reasons I fight the Collective."

I nodded. Probably shouldn't continue with this. She noticed the look of discomfort on my face.

"So when are you going to talk to your father?"

I shrugged. "He's been working more since I left. Gonna be difficult to find some time to do. But I'll think of something. He seemed more angry than my mother about what I did. I'm kind of worried I won't make a good impression on him. He's kind of stubborn, but he's not a bad guy in any regard. He's worried about his kids, and, for the most part, he's not wrong."

"But?"

"But he didn't exactly get a good impression of XCOM. He acted like I was a child soldier being thrown into a meat grinder. Hell, he even outright said that in front of Bronis."

That got an eyebrow raised out of her. "That sounds a little extreme. Sounds like he wasn't handling it well?"

I shook my head. "No, and that's what's worrying me. I've _never_ seen Dad act like that before. He's normally a chill guy. Outbursts like that from him are extremely rare."

"Well, it's not every day that your kid joins the world's most elite and dangerous organization." She said. "But do you think it was a kind of knee-jerk reaction, or him being deliberately mean?"

"I think it was more of a knee-jerk thing. I mean, he got quiet and didn't speak much after I started crying. Since then he's been quiet. We've spoken a few times, but nothing ever really came out of it."

"I'm sorry."

I nodded. "No problem, anything for a friend. If you ever need to talk about stuff like that, we're here."

I smiled warmly at her. "Thanks, Lian."

"I have to run along. Training. See you later." I gave her a small wave as she walked away.

Well, that had gone well.

Wonder how Carreria was going to react to the fact that my mother wanted to meet her.

That would also be something, wouldn't it?

* * *

_Therapy Office, Praesidium_

_7/25/17 - 10:01 AM_

"You wanted to see me, Doctor Yates?"

She nodded, indicating a chair. "Yes, Dawn. Sit down, please."

This was...unexpected. I didn't have an appointed session with her for another week - what was this?

"May I ask why I'm here? I don't remember our next appointment being for another week."

"And you'd be right. However, I was looking over my notes from our previous meetings, and wanted to talk to you one-on-one about some things."

I gulped. _Was this about my stunt with Patricia in the Dreamscape? I told the Commander I was sorry._

"Did I do something wrong that prompted this meeting?"

She shook her head, responding in a calm tone. "No. All I would like to do is ask you some questions."

"Like what?"

"Your concern about your mental state, for one. In particular, your mood swings and anxiety about managing your abilities. Also, you've expressed to me multiple times that you're worried about handling yourself in combat." She looked at her notes, pausing for a second, before looking up at me. "It's been some time since you've brought this up. In your opinion, have you improved in this aspect, or would you still call these legitimate concerns?"

I nodded. "Yes. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about them. I think I've gotten better there, though, yeah."

"Alright. I'd like to start off by asking you a question."

"Shoot."

"In your opinion, do you think you joined XCOM without properly thinking of the consequences of doing so?"

I raised an eyebrow. "'Consequences' being things like pressure, possible mental or health issues, etcetera?"

"Yes."

"Can I have a moment to think before I answer?"

"Yes."

She had a point.

I was young. And I'd had a lot thrown at me. The revelations, learning the truth about the war and everyone involved so quickly, fighting itself and participating in combat- all within a little over a month. That shouldn't be the life I should be living. What would I have done if this war had never happened?

I'd be in college, chasing that history major, hanging out with a roommate from a state or country I'd never been to. I'd go to parties, sneaking a peak at that one guy who I thought was cute, not giving a damn about the world. I'd graduate, walk across that stage in my cap and gown, get that diploma. Get a job and a house, worry about things like bills and taxes and a budget. I'd go out on dates, looking for _the one_.

I'd find him eventually, get married, and live the life I'd always wanted. We'd grow old together, retire to some nursing home to live out the rest of our days.

But I would never live that kind of life. And that, in a way, was the greatest consequence joining XCOM had. Never would I be 'normal' again.

The war could take years to complete. I'd never go to college, get that diploma, get that job and a house, or get married. I wouldn't worry about bills and that next paycheck - I'd be worried about whether or not I or my friends would die on that next mission. I wouldn't sit in a chair all day, typing or negotiating with angry customers - here, arguments were solved with weapons, psionics, and military strategy. The battles of the boardroom would be replaced by actual battles, where the fight would be ended with a bullet or a simple thought.

I wouldn't kill time - I'd kill people. Lots and lots of people. I would be fine-tuned not as an employee, moving up the ranks through years of work. No, I would be fined-tuned to be a weapon, a weapon of mass destruction that could lay waste to countless people and countless places. And I sure as hell wasn't going to find anyone that I'd get into an intimate relationship with here.

Was that any place for a kid? My recruitment wasn't _illegal_ or anything, I couldn't be classified as a child soldier by any means, and my choice to go was a voluntary one.

But could I accept the consequences of my choice? Truly? I had been responsible and mature, but had I ever really sat down, and thought about the ramifications of my actions?

And that was assuming we _won_ \- that was the best case scenario. If we lost, would I have to go on the run or underground to escape the Collective? Make some kind of deal with T'Leth? And what if I got captured? Would they paint me as a victim, or a war criminal? Turn me into a test subject for horrible experiments? Turn me over to the Bringer? Brainwash me into becoming a masked puppet, an Ethereal plaything to tout around?

Had I _really_ thought about the consequences of joining XCOM before I said yes to Bronis? Having a blowout fight with my parents? Being exposed to so much so quickly?

It _did_ feel overwhelming, having so much shoved at me in such little time. I knew _why_ it was being done- this phase of the war had been more intense than any phase we'd seen before, with even more on the line than ever. But a part of me wondered if they hadn't considered the full effects of bringing a teen into XCOM. Then again, if I hadn't fit the standards that they had set, I wouldn't have been offered the position at all.

"You know, looking back, I think that I may have." I looked down. "I might've been too caught up in the excitement and thrill of having XCOM actually ask me to join. Before I joined up, some of us used to talk about XCOM, and what we thought went on there. We'd speculate for so long, come up with all these crazy, outlandish ideas on what went on behind the scenes."

I chuckled. "Looking back, some of our predictions weren't too far off, but this…" I gestured to the room around me. "I don't think _anyone_ could have expected this. Have I gotten used to it all? Sure. _Can_ I handle it? Sure, I have. But as my dad used to say, I made my bed, and now I have to lie in it. Do I worry about it sometimes? Yes. Do I think I can handle it? Sure."

"Do you still sometimes have thoughts, regrets about joining XCOM?"

I shrugged. "I have thoughts. Sometimes. I miss having people of my age around. Being able to talk with them about similar things that adults have trouble understanding. But in the end, the adults here are mature and understanding- then again, if they weren't, I doubt XCOM would have hired them in the first place. So that's that."

She took more notes on her tablet. "So how would you react to the statement that you have grown accustomed to XCOM?"

I nodded. "Sure. Yeah, that's true. I'm more used to it then I was before."

"But you're having issues with your emotions? In particular, the stress?"

"Yep."

"And how much do you think the stress is impacting you overall?"

"I mean, I don't normally feel like beating people to death, so, yeah. I mean, it's just all...kind of bottled up in there sometimes. Sure, these appointments- and you, of course- have been helping. A lot. But I feel like…" I felt tension in my hands, as if I wanted to ball them into fists." "I just feel like I need to take it out on something."

"Like when you 'killed' Patricia?"

"Yeah. I just saw all that death, all those people dead. And for a moment, I just felt angry. _So_ angry. I felt like I had to do something. I just couldn't keep it all in there. So I killed her. What I was doing was brutal, yes, but it just felt _right_. I don't know if my anger had fully taken me over."

"It is not healthy to do that, Dawn. Bottling up your emotions can lead to them boiling over, and having even worse consequences."

"I know. I just...I have trouble expressing them sometimes. Some days, I just don't know how to in front of my friends. When I kill things in the Dreamscape, it can go away for a while. But sometimes it feels like it can just come back. When I'm in battle, the flow of everything, the action, the rush. I just feel...right. And it's not just that. The training, too. When I'm practicing my psionics, shooting a gun, running, lifting weights, whatever. It feels good."

She wrote something down on her tablet. "So you've grown more used to combat and more intensive activities. But in those activities, it gives you relief from your stress. Is there anything non-combat or training oriented that helps with your stress?"

"Yes. Talking and hanging out in the Mess Hall or the barracks. It can get kinda fun talking and telling stories with the others. Gets my mind off of things for a while. In fact, honestly? I feel great. Physically at least. Being able to do all of these things I could never do before. I feel like someone flipped a switch in my mind or something."

She nodded. "Many soldiers here have reported feeling similar effects post-augmentation. That's quite normal. Does it feel like a rush? Like you are more energized?"

"Definitely."

She wrote more. "Yes, that's quite normal. Can we go back to your stress?"

"Um, sure."

"So you say you feel like your emotions are bottling up. _Which_ emotions, if I may ask?"

I gulped. "Anger. Sometimes rage. A little bit of sadness. Some regret."

"What do you think is causing these emotions to surface?"

"The war. Seeing all these things happen. What I sometimes go through in the simulations. Being in an environment I'm not normally used to. The pressure of training and getting better."

"And how do you think we should deal with this?"

I shrugged. "More appointments, I guess. I'm sorry. I-I really don't know."

She nodded. "It's okay. I'm sure we'll figure something out."

I nodded. "I understand. I'm just a little worried."

She warmly smiled. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out, Dawn. You and me. You've made a lot of progress today by talking about these things. Remember, recognizing these issues proves you're mature enough to talk about and discuss them. That's one of the biggest steps towards finding a solution."

"Anything else, Doctor?"

"No, Miss Conley. Not for now. Take care."

I stood up. "Is our appointment still next week?"

"Yes, as planned."

I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. As I walked away, I couldn't help but feel more...relaxed after that. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Not a large one,but one that was sizeable enough to make me feel more relaxed. More comfortable.

I reminded myself to thank Yates the next time I saw her. That had, admittedly, helped more than expected. When I first got here, walking the halls of this place, I felt out of place, nervously acting like I didn't belong. But now, I was someone. People nodded at me when I walked past them. People asked me if I wanted to do sims with them. Shoot with them. Show me some kind of exercise in the gym. Give me advice if I was doing something wrong. To some people, I was a kind of 'little sister' type. Another addition, albeit a unique one, to the XCOM family.

And you know what?

In the end, I was fine with that.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_6/27/17- 8:40 PM_

_And so, in conclusion, through the manipulation of cells, biopathy has the capacity to be the most useful form of telepathy, in many cases, ranging from medicine to warfare. Please see my recent report on my request to-_

Not a bad report, written by someone who was supposedly so childish. Then again, like it or not, the self-righteous, hypocritical, double-standard bearing bitch in white that was Sana'Ligna was essential to me learning more about my abilities. The scientific records that Aegis had taken with him were a veritable goldmine; in a way, they had done most of the work for me.

But now it was up to me to take their work and apply it to myself. If I ever had to fight them, the irony could not have been more clearer.

But I hoped it wouldn't come to that.

But regardless of my personal feelings towards her, she had a lot of good theories and studies that I could analyze. Especially regarding the actual _what_ and _how_ of biopathy. Namely getting the right mindset, handling and managing said mindset, and expanding it. Melting and healing were the basics, yes. But when you got it down to a science, the nitty-gritty of the process itself, it was all about one thing.

_Scale._

Scale was, in a way, the true essence of biopathy, and what defined it. It was telepathy, but taken to a microscopic level. Why mind control when you can command the very essence that makes up organic life? You _could_ use telepathy to mitigate the pain someone felt, but biopathy could outright _heal_ that pain. Can't kill someone outright? Trigger massive cellular reproduction within them, turning the enemy's body against them, killing them from the inside.

And that was just used in warfare. Outside of it - well, the civilian applications were almost limitless. Farming, medicine, chemistry - it was just so much.

But there were a few issues.

One. I was a human - _one_ human. I was young, so I would have a lot of time to learn. I could become powerful - but not powerful enough. To pull off some of the things that she'd theorized about - as well as the concepts Geist and I had come up with, I'd need to hone my biopathy far beyond just simply using it to kill. I'd have to experiment more.

For example, the concept of cellular replication and reproduction. Cancer cells have an unnaturally high rate of division, leading to the creation of tumors. However, it _theoretically_ would be possible for a biopath to somehow repair, or at the very least minimize or slow down the rate of replication, either curing the patient or giving them more time so a treatment or surgery can be applied, saving their life.

Here was the problem, well problems with that. The issue wasn't that it couldn't be done, the underlying conditions under which this would work I couldn't exactly replicate at this time. One - while XCOM and ADVENT would certainly appreciate me submitting a report or possible procedures for such an idea, XCOM as of now wanted my biopathy as a weapon, so any in-depth research on my end on the off-battlefield applications would have to wait until the war was over.

And I could be killed in that time.

All the more reason to record my theories and ideas, then.

Which brought me to my second issue.

There, quite simply, wasn't enough of me. Geist could technically be classified as a biopath, but his was nowhere as natural as mine. Now, I'd come to peace with being the first true biopath, and the only one, as of now, accessible to ADVENT and XCOM. But, someday, another biopath's full potential had to be discovered. Maybe they would accidentally melt something, like I did, or the opposite, and accidentally heal an injury or the like.

What would happen then? Would XCOM ask them to join like what they did with me? Would ADVENT, or maybe even that Pantheon group want them instead?

It was only a matter of time until we found another one. And with luck, I could mentor them. Teach them to operate and think like I do. Or maybe it would be the opposite - they could have a background that could help _me_ learn.

Which was related to option three.

But option three was something I considered ridiculous. No way would it ever happen.

And if it somehow did...then I never would have to worry about having a teacher again.

I sighed, putting down my tablet after more note-taking on her report. It was admittedly well written, though the writer clearly had a very 'the world-revolves-around-me-I'm-so-special' mentality. Ugh. At least my twin sibling didn't act like that. Clearly Ethereal family dynamics operated much differently than ours.

 _I think that's enough notes for today._ I looked at the time. _Is the Dreamscape still available...yes! Good._

_One last thing before I go to bed._

* * *

_Dreamscape, several minutes later_

Contrary to popular belief, the Dreamscape wasn't simply about combat. Our pilots used it for flight sims. Medics used it to simulate people with various injuries to treat.

But it was also useful for something else - meditation.

Precisely what I was doing right now. The Dreamscape's ability to create an environment that was extremely calm and quiet was a useful asset for those looking for meditation or peace and quiet, and I was no exception.

I sat on the 'floor', the Dreamscape as it was normally, an empty, murky, black-blue space of nothing, eyes closed, thinking.

I decided to reflect on the meeting with my mother earlier in the last week. What she had said. What I said.

_I didn't run away. I just made a choice. A choice that would change everything about who I am, who I was, and who I will be._

_But something came up._

_Yates had a point._

_When I said yes to Bronis, did I seriously consider the consequences of this? What I'd do? What I'd see?_

_She was right. But what else could I do now? I couldn't go back. Not that I wanted to. I knew I couldn't._

_For the first time in my life, I knew where I was going to go. Who I was going to be. When I received that letter of acceptance to college, long before the war began, I was still unsure of myself. I would get that degree, yes, but what would I exactly do with it? I felt lost. I didn't know what I truly wanted to do in life. I felt scared, aimless, and afraid._

_Then the war happened, and I ended up here. I discovered my true talent, something you couldn't be taught or learn in school. My biopathy, my telepathy, my connection to the Psionosphere changed everything. Now, strangely, I felt more complete. Like it was a part of me hidden away, potential waiting to be unlocked and allowed to grow and develop. Something I alone could forge and mold into something of my own doing and making._

_I felt like I had direction, a purpose. A meaning to do something that I could put myself behind._

_In XCOM, I could make a difference. I could change the world. I could protect those who couldn't protect themselves. But that kind of change...could only be paid for in blood._

_If you had told me one year ago that I'd be killing people and finding it easy, that past version of me would've called the present me a psychopath or something._

_How much I'd changed. From an innocent schoolgirl to a trained killer, a fine-tuned weapon, honed for a war against an enemy no one saw coming. I know I certainly didn't._

_How much things have changed._

_Last year, I would be at the coffee place after school, chatting and working with my friends. Now, you could find me in a gym, flexing genetically enhanced muscles, using strength I never thought I'd have. You could find me inside the mind of what some would call a god, fighting through its various machinations to prepare myself for the battlefield. You could find me next to cyborgs, artificial intelligences, or aliens capable of ending entire armies._

_Funny how I've gotten so used to it by now. Feels like I just joined yesterday._

_But I would be lying if I said I didn't feel at home here._

_This is who I am now. The old Dawn, one day, will be gone forever. A matter of growing up, yeah, but also experience. I'm going to see things, do things that would have horrified the old me. And slowly, she will fade away, to be replaced by...someone._

_I knew going into XCOM that I would leave in two ways- as a completely different person, or in a body bag. But did I ever truly stop and think about who I would become?_

I gritted my teeth, opening my eyes and staring into T'Leth's void. For old times' sake, I had the sim give me my old getup that I'd wear to school most days- a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. My hair was in a ponytail, the hairstyle I'd had for years before regulations made me shorten my hair when I joined.

I closed my eyes, and for a moment, envisioned me. The _old_ me. With a backpack over her shoulder, a smile on her face, and was that one friend in your group that you can trust, who could always make everything feel alright.

And when I opened my eyes, she was there. Inert, frozen.

Seeing me pre-invasion was almost surreal. Only concerned with school and her friends. Not about the next atrocity or military move by minds and beings far greater than her. Not having her own mortality and power constantly on her mind. Not having to worry about one of her friends walking out the door and never coming back.

Some days, I wished I could be her again, not having to worry about anything this war has created. I knew it couldn't happen, but what I wouldn't give to have just one day of peace.

I stared at her, noticing just how different she looked. No hexagon-patterned skin, less muscles, non-yellow outlined irises- but it wasn't just that about her eyes. Something else about them had changed.

The look in her eyes. It was...difficult to describe, but it almost seemed warmer, more relaxed. Softer. With a wave, I summoned a mirror, looking in mine. My heart almost skipped a beat as I made the connection almost instantly. The look in mine was colder. Less emotional. Like there was some kind of determination behind them.

It was the look of someone else. Someone who had seen things they shouldn't.

I took a deep breath.

_This is who you are now, Dawn._

_This is what you decided to do._

_This is only the beginning._

I snapped out of it, staring at the model me once more. As I looked at her, I began to wonder. If...if I had a chance to go back one year, and give the old me advice, what would I have said to her? Definitely something to talk to yates about, I was sure.

But what possibly could have prepared me for _this?_ Fighting aliens with space magic and plasma weapons? There wasn't exactly a _How to fight off genocidal maniacs 101_ class as part of my academic course.

Maybe that's it. I _couldn't_ have been totally ready for this. Sometimes, life just threw things your way and you had to deal with them. But was anyone really ever _truly_ ready for something like this? Even the Commander of all people had to start from somewhere.

And I had to, too.

"I'm sorry." I finally said, staring at the younger me. I didn't even know why I was saying sorry. Why I felt guilty. Was it because of the growing up I had to do? The stress? The information I knew? Was that too much for me?

Maybe it was. My closest friend thought so. That was saying something.

So what could I do, then?

That, I would have to figure out myself.

Because if I didn't, I'd most certainly end up dead.

* * *

_Praesidium, Entertainment Room #4- 11:50 AM_

_6/28/17_

The Chancellor's speech was soon, and we were waiting. You could almost feel the anticipation in the crowd. All across the base, soldiers who weren't on a mission or in the medical bay had taken a short break to watch the upcoming address. We were excited to hear what she had to say, but I would be lying if I said there was a hint of concern.

It was Unification Day, one of the more important days in the history of ADVENT. Part of me would be a bit surprised if they _didn't_ try to pull something during her speech. Maybe Patricia would hijack the broadcast and destroy something. Long, intimidating speeches akin to a supervillain didn't really seem like her kind of thing.

Or maybe Quisilia would just pull something. That would be mildly entertaining, albeit irritating.

More soldiers started to walk in, along with a few aliens. I'd recognized some of them from previous simulations, and gave them a simple nod or wave, which they responded to in kind. I felt more accepted, as no one was giving me strange looks anymore. I suppose that any new soldiers would give me a look, but that was something I'd gotten used to. As I took a sip of my drink, I stared at the screen again.

_So much has changed. I've seen more than enough shit for one lifetime, and I haven't even seen real combat yet. I've seen the Earth (almost) unified, something I'd never thought I'd live to see. And, of course, the alien invasion. And me learning how to mind control and control cells. And the gene mods. That was...almost unbelievable only a year ago._

So much had changed, and I'd just taken it all in stride. It was almost surprising how much my life had veered off from what I'd intended, but you know what? It was something. I had friends, I had teachers that at first glance would seem absolutely insane, but in the end had taught me more about myself then almost anyone else in my life, spare my parents and a few school friends.

Sure, the technology and the mods and the weapons were cool, but if there was one thing that I enjoyed about it above all others, it was the camaraderie. Brotherhood. Standing together, and embracing what brought us together.

Before this, I'd had friends, but that was different. We cared for one another because of the time we spent together, and our shared interests. But here, in XCOM, the bond was different. Deeper. More serious. With the fear of the alien threat hanging over our heads, we _knew_ it was our duty to stop them, whatever the cost. The training, The simulations. The times spent just talking to one another, talking about our lives, our experiences, and who we were before the war hit. It just felt more serious. More integral. Stronger.

And in the end, the friendships that I was making here meant more to me than almost anything. These bonds, the trust we'd built together would keep us alive, keep us together, and most importantly, gave us all a feeling of home.

Here, I felt purpose. I had goals, ones I could achieve, as ridiculous as they could sound. The people here cared, and could help in ways that I'd never imagined. I was a part of something great, greater than anything I'd ever imagined myself doing before this. I was part of one of the greatest organizations ever conceived by mankind, a pillar of hope and bravery against whatever could be thrown at us.

I was proud of who I was now.

"Watching the broadcast, are we?" My Borelian friend trudged next to me, sitting down.

"Yes. I didn't know you were interested."

"Well, of course I would be! Your Chancellor is a strong leader. Similar to some who once led our clan before unification. Less self-destructive, of course."

I raised an eyebrow, intending to ask what exactly she meant by that. However, I didn't get the chance - something was happening. The screen was getting darker.

"The hell?"

"Is there a technical malfunction?" She inquired, pulling out a tablet, accessing a livestream for a moment.

"Strange. It is also darker here. I wonder if this is some kind of Collective technology. If it is, I haven't seen or heard of it before."

 _Patricia's probably behind this._ I thought to myself. I kept watching the screen, anxiously waiting for something to happen.

"Looks like an eclipse. Albeit an irregular one. Perhaps a-" Our phones rang in a collective succession as a notification popped up on our screens.

One directly from the Internal Council. The message was short and simple.

_Hiveship has appeared over Turkey. Invasion force sighted. Squads will be notified for deployment momentarily._

I stared back at the TV screen, watching helplessly as it turned blacker.

Only night was natural - this most certainly wasn't.

This definitely was not a coincidence.

_What the hell are you doing, Patricia? Trying out another of your intimidation tactics?_

As I waited for the Chancellor to begin speaking, I felt like this was only the beginning of much worse things to come.

* * *

 **A/N** : Alright, a minor update. I got some art of both Dawn, as well as the Ethereal basketball scene from the 'Letting Loose' chapter done by Zephyrus-Genesis. Her profile and the pictures will be linked below. Check it out- it's very good artwork. (For ff readers, you'll have to enter the links manually into the searchbar)

Artist's Profile: zephyrus-genesis

Dawn Artwork: zephyrus-genesis/art/XCOM-New-Blood-Dawn-Conley-845511589

Basketball Game Artwork: zephyrus-genesis/art/XCOM-New-Blood-Basketball-Game-843640111

* * *

To be continued in:

**Nightfall**


	12. Nightfall

_Entertainment Room #4_

_6/28/17- 2:41 PM_

The speech had been delayed for several hours due to the darkness that loomed over the city, but that was far from the only thing we had had to worry about.

Instead, we were focused on the gargantuan Hiveship that'd appeared over Turkey, and had been deploying forces. The country was going to be overrun - and soon. ADVENT could respond, but, as far as I knew, they might not be quick enough to fully stop the Collective entirely. I'd heard about Hiveships here and there, but, seeing that massive ship...my god. I'd simply never seen anything like it.

That wasn't all, though. Patricia was making a push towards Seoul, Warlock 2.0 was on the move again, and the Second Guardian was attacking the West Coast. The Collective was seriously making a serious effort to gain some ground here.

Hopefully, we could negate some of that in the end.

The small crowd of soldiers looked back at the screen as the Chancellor stepped onto the podium, beginning her speech.

" _The symbology of what is being attempted here today is not something to be downplayed. Today is the day where ADVENT emerged, and declared our intention to form a united Humanity to stand against the alien threat. In that one year, we have secured much of the world under our control. We have killed an Ethereal. We have overcome a plague. We have won battle after battle against the aliens. We have made technological breakthroughs that were considered science fiction months ago. We field psions capable of matching the Ethereals. We have become what the Collective has feared the most – a_ _ **threat**_."

 _Not a bad start. Technically, it was two Ethereals, but the Ravaged One's death was pretty much all XCOM._ Then again,Although what she'd said wasn't _technically_ true, it reminded me of just how much of the truth of this war was kept from the public truly. How would they react if they learned of T'Leth, and the true nature of the Collective invasion? About the Synthesized, whose near extermination of the Ethereals led to the formation of the Collective? And XCOM's attack on the UN?

I shook my head. Better to focus on the Chancellor's words, not on hypothetical _what-if_ scenarios.

The Chancellor continued with her rousing speech. " _If the Imperator, and his cohort, were as powerful as they believed, then they would have ended this war. The Imperator was said to be powerful enough to dominate planets, and yet where exactly is he? Hidden away, out of fear, or perhaps disinterest. He works through his puppet, because he knows if he came personally…he would risk his own life._ "

 _Throwing shade at the Imperator and his little toy, are we? I'd do the same thing if given the chance, just not as exquisitely._ I snorted. While I could understand the reasoning behind using the shades as a kind of psychological warfare, it just seemed kind of...cartoony to me. Like something a villain from a movie or TV show would do.

On one hand, fictional villains usually didn't have the backing of entities capable of soloing entire armies or countries.

But on the other hand, villains, be them fictional or real could always be beaten in some way. That gave me some hope for the current situation.

As she continued to speak, listing off the good things ADVENT had done for the world in the year that it had risen to power, I couldn't help but feel more comforted. More safe. More...proud of what I was doing.

It gave me, and the countless others watching, something that was truly powerful.

Hope.

In a way, that's what XCOM was made for, after all. To protect humanity against an alien threat, to give the people hope that they could live to see and fight another day. To give them the hope that there would one day be a day where they would not have to live in fear from powers that wished to do harm.

But to do that, we'd have to fight.

And as her speech concluded, I smiled.

I felt ready.

I _was_ ready.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_6/29/17- 2:37 PM_

My dad's deadpan expression said it all, staring at me through the screen.

" _Dawn. How's it going_?"

"It's going well," I said. "How's the job?"

" _It's good. Though people keep asking me how you're doing. I still have to tell them you're in the PRIESTs, you know,_ " he sighed, running a hand through his hair. " _I know I can't tell them - it's for your safety. But I miss you, Dawn_."

I gulped. "I miss you too, Dad. I...I'm sorry. I wish it was different sometimes."

" _Yeah_." He nodded. " _So, what did you want to talk about?_ "

"I wanted to talk about us, Dad."

He raised an eyebrow. " _What about us, exactly?_ "

"About me joining XCOM, and our relationship. I know you're angry about it, and I want to talk about it with you."

He pursed his lips. " _Okay. What about it? How we've barely spoken since you've joined? How you've changed? How you've been doing things people your age shouldn't do?_ "

"Change, Dad?" I demanded. "You want to talk about _change?_ How about how _you're_ changing? You've been more distant, working more and more, and you refuse to talk about it! You've been constantly pissed off ever since I joined, and I just want to talk to you about it."

" _I'm worried about you because you might_ _ **die**_ _, Dawn! Or that something will fuck up your mind! You're nineteen- how old are the people you're working with? Twenties, thirties? And how much experience do you have compared to them?_ "

I knew what he was trying to get at - I was too young for this. Would I even be allowed to send Aegis' and Geists' reports to him? As much as I wished Bronis or Geist could give him a stern lecture about this, this was _my_ problem, something I had to do myself.

Hopefully I wouldn't screw it up.

"I know, Dad," I sighed. "That's why I wanted to call you in the first place. I want to offer you my perspective on this, so maybe you can understand this better."

He ruffled his eyebrows. " _Alright. Okay, I'm listening_."

He leaned back in his chair, in a way giving off an _okay, this is gonna be good_ impression.

Well then. Let's hope this didn't go totally to hell.

"I know you're worried that what I do might have lasting effects on me, be them mental or physical, or even me dying. I know it's hard, but I've come to accept it. I made a choice to come here, and choices have consequences. I am ready to accept the fact that I could very well be killed or injured to a degree that I'd have to undergo severe surgery for. I could lose some limbs in the future for all I know. But I know I want this."

" _You_ _ **want**_ _this_?" He asked incredulously. " _Dawn, a year ago you'd never touched a gun and talked about how you'd make a bad soldier when you talked with your uncle! What changed_?"

"What _changed_? Dad, the war? Hello? I know you wanted me to go to college. I get that - you wanted me to have a good education and a better chance at getting a good job. I know how you feel. But things changed. Joining the PRIESTs was something I just couldn't say no to. Those vids, Dad. Of New York and Seattle? _That_ told me that we had to do something about this. _I_ should do something! I couldn't just turn down my psionic potential. Do you know how many people out there have a ninety or above on the Trask Scale that _aren't_ Ethereals?"

He shrugged. " _I'm not sure. I'm guessing it's not very many?_ "

"Exactly. Not using that would be a waste. You always said that I was smart. I know you weren't happy when I didn't end up going to college when the PRIESTs recruited me, but under ADVENT, the colleges I and Mary would've gone to are free! We wouldn't have to worry about the cost at all!"

He shook his head. " _It's not about the money, Dawn. It's about your future, the cost it has on_ _ **us**_ _and_ _ **you**_ _! Your mom and I worry constantly about you and your sister being in danger. Especially you! You've seen how your uncle is, what combat did to him. Have you ever considered what it would do to_ _ **you**_ _? He was in the military for years, and you've only been in it for half a year!_ "

I knew where he was coming from. I understood what he was trying to say. He was worried I wouldn't be able to handle it. Be it killing people, seeing the horrors of war, people being burned, blown apart, dismembered - and that wasn't counting the psionic aspect of it - seeing into people's minds, controlling them, and making them insane.

Of course, the other way around could also happen, Getting mentally attacked with telepathy could be absolutely devastating if you weren't prepared. Having a telepath go into your mind and puppet you, or seek out the deepest, darkest depths of your mind and having that terror overwhelm you was, in my mind, a fate worse than death.

Well, that or becoming a Bringer thrall. But I didn't want to think about _that_ right now. I had enough on my mind.

"Dad, I get why you're worried. If I were in your position, I'd be worried too! But…" I sighed. "If you were here, you could understand. The people here have been training me well. They've been accepting and really understanding. The Commander and Geist aren't going to send me out if I'm not ready. I've been talking to a therapist, as well as a lot of people who have _much_ more experience than I do. Hell Dad, my bunkmate fought in _Beijing_. And some of my friends have fought _Ethereals!_ "

His brow furrowed. " _Are they really friends, Dawn?_ "

"Yes! We care about each other here. We talk about our experiences, our lives, our families, whatever! We're a family here." _A strange family, but a good one nonetheless._ "We're all together in this fucking war, whether we like it or not."

He shook his head. " _You don't deserve this, Dawn. You should be hanging out with people your age, not soldiers_."

I nodded, my voice getting quiet. "You're right. I shouldn't be. If there was no war, of course not. But there _is_ a war. A war I chose to get involved in. A war we're all involved in!"

" _And you want us to move to this...base-place-whatever it is?_ "

"Yes! You're putting yourselves in danger by just staying put where you are! What if they drop an invasion force on Nashville tomorrow? You could be killed! And what about if the Zararch or someone else decide to pay you a visit?"

He shook his head. " _That's not-_ "

"It _could_ happen, Dad. Please. Just think about it for me, okay?"

" _Alright. But Dawn, please. For my own sake, answer this question_."

"Okay, Dad. Go ahead."

He paused, staring away for a second before turning back to the camera. " _Do you enjoy what you're doing? Where you are?_ "

I stared at my dad, my eyes filled with conviction. "Yes." I said, swallowing as I mustered up my strength. "I do."

A slight nod, a face blank. " _Why_?"

"XCOM...here, I feel welcome. I feel like I have a purpose here. Meaning. Being around these people, it's made me think about life. My life, and what I've done. Learning about myself, the war and my powers, the tech, the modifications, what we know - what we're doing. I feel certain about my future and what I want to do. It may not be the future I or you or Mom wanted for me, but it is what it is. And you know what? I like it here."

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. " _I would ask you what you do there but that's probably classified - they won't tell us much._ " He made eye contact with me. " _Dawn, I just want you to be safe. You're my little girl, you're my daughter. And all this secrecy and not knowing much about where you are or what you're doing...it's just hard for me. For your mom_."

I reached out, touching the screen. "I know, Dad." I said quietly. "I miss you and her. I miss seeing you, being with you all."

" _I do too, Dawn_."

For a minute, we said nothing. I decided to take a risk. "You remember, back when I was younger? You'd take me and Grace out, walking George to get ice cream from that once truck?"

A slight grin spread across his face. " _I remember_."

I continued. "And we'd go to that one park bench and just sit there, talking? It'd be warm, but not too warm. We'd pet George and you'd ask us about our day, and just for a while, we wouldn't worry about anything else?"

"I do. And George would always try to chase after those squirrels. I swear, those nut-hiding buggers were trying to tease him." I laughed loudly - maybe a little too loudly. Some of the soldiers in the room turned their heads towards me, giving me the ' _you okay?'_ or the ' _the fuck?_ ' look, which I waved off, smiling.

"I miss that dog so damn much."

" _I do too. You and Grace loved him_."

"He was like family."

"He was."

I sigh. Good times. I missed that Saint Bernard. Truly the goodest boy that ever lived.

" _Will you be on for much longer, Dawn?_ "

"A few more minutes, Dad. Then I'm going to meet up with some friends."

" _Any of them aliens?_ "

"One's a flying cyborg."

He chuckled. " _Seriously_?"

"Yep."

He gave me a friendly wave. " _Alrighty then. Have fun, then._ "

"I will, Dad. And um...can you think about what I said?"

"Sure, honey. I'll talk it over with your mother. We'll let you know soon okay?"

"Okay. Love you, dad."

" _Love you too, honey._ "

The call ended a moment later. I laid back, staring at the ceiling.

_Not bad, Dawn. Not bad at all._

* * *

_MEC Bay, Praesidium_

_6/28/17- 1:30 PM_

The sim had ended a few minutes ago, so Sierra decided to give me a little impromptu tour of MEC central.

And I was not disappointed.

"Wow."

"It's pretty nice, isn't it?"

I nodded, staring at the Valkyrie MEC. I'd seen it firsthand in the Dreamscape, but this was something else. It was so...huge. Intimidating. Especially the wings - its wingspan along spoke for the sheer power of this machine. If I didn't know any better, I'd want to fly it myself. Truthfully though, as cool as the Archangels looked, I preferred being on the ground. Not that I was afraid of heights or anything. Though I wouldn't mind getting a jetpack or something like that.

"It is. It's...kind of awesome."

She appraised me, though it was a bit difficult to tell what she was thinking, even if her tone sounded amused. "Is that right _?_ "

I knew Sierra was teasing me, but I went along with it anyway. I held up my hands in mock surrender. "Alright, T-X. I'll give you that one. It's _very_ awesome." I paused for a second. "But not as cool as melting people and controlling their minds."

She snorted. "I've not necessarily thought about it in…" she gestured somewhat aimlessly. " _Those_ kinds of terms. But it is...fun. It still is; flying. Terrifying sometimes, dangerous of course, but it's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. It's...hard to describe to someone who's not a MEC pilot, similar I imagine to how it is to describe psionics to one who isn't." She flexed her fingers, not doing the pull-the-flesh-back part, thank god. That little trick was freaky, and absolutely no one was going to change my mind.

"That's alright. Seeing you in action is all the proof I need. Personally, I don't think I'd be up for becoming a MEC myself, unless they figure out how to make one that doesn't mess with your psionic aptitude. And even then, I'm not sure if I'd even feel comfortable going through with it." I looked at her, trying not to make it sound like I was throwing shade on her choice.

Her face was inscrutable as she formulated a response. "It's not a choice anyone should make lightly, especially not someone like you. Not everyone is cut out for it. I'm not like you or most people now. I can endure it, but not everyone can."

I nodded. "Can I ask you a few things about, well, becoming a MEC?"

I _was_ very curious about what it felt like to go through such a change, not to mention losing so much of your organic body. I'd heard you didn't even have to eat or sleep after undergoing the procedure, which further intrigued me. I'd pulled all-nighters before during sleepovers and on weekends, but _never_ having to sleep or eat for the rest of your life?

She indicated to a nearby empty table, with two chairs. "Sure, let's sit. I've got some time. Ask away." We sat down and she continued. " What do you want to know?"

"Well…." _Where do I even begin?_ "Is it really true you don't have to sleep or eat?"

"Sort of. I don't _need_ to sleep, but I still do anyway." She tapped the side of her flat chest - another thing I kind of wanted to ask her about, but wasn't really sure how to properly _word_ it. "Battery port's right here, gets charged every night."

"Wait, so you just...put a cord in there, and just plug it into an outlet?"

She nodded, noticing my surprised look. "A bit crude, but essentially. I don't really _feel_ anything, because it's all metal in there." She tapped her chest. "It's mostly unnecessary - I can go about a month without needing to charge myself, but I still do it anyway."

I nodded. _Okay, so it's true you don't_ _ **have**_ _to sleep, but sleep is sleep, I guess._ "And eating?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a red vial. "This is what they give us to eat and drink. Tailored for my cybernetics, though most of us treat it as a supplement or vitamin. I _can_ eat and drink - I still do. I don't know how it exactly works, but my best guess is that nanites break it down and convert it to nutrition for the body. The procedure didn't alter my taste, so everything still tastes good.. Actually, let me see…"

She reached into the pocket of her uniform, feeling around for a moment before pulling out a clear vial, filled with red fluid, not too dissimilar to the color of blood. She held it out, as if it was for me.

"I'm not eating that."

She grinned. "Watch."

Sierra pulled up her sleeve, revealing her metal arm as her 'skin' pulled back, revealing a slit in the robot forearm. She gingerly inserted the vial into the slit, which made a little _click_ noise as it hooked up to her system. A second later, the fluid drained out of it, emptying the vial ridiculously fast.

My eyes widened. "Wow. So that's how you feed yourself?"

"'Feed' being a generous term - but yes, pretty much."

"Do you feel anything?"

She shrugged. "No. Though after I put it in my system, I do feel a little rush of energy. Like drinking water while you're thirsty and it's hot out. That kind of feeling."

"You seem pretty used to not being able to do some basic human functions."

She stared at her hands, the skin retracted, leaving only pure metal. "It's easier than you'd think. You have to get used to it or you'll go mad. Yates and the other MEC pilots have been helping me get used to it - the other pilots have been doing this much longer then I have, some of them even before MEC 2.0. They've been really helpful." She briefly trailed off. "But things _are_ different. I don't get really hungry, thirsty, or tired. I don't have to speak with my mouth. All feeling is...artificial. Existing, but artificial. There are other things, though mostly when you're connected to the MEC suit itself ."

I raised an eyebrow. "Didn't the change in your height kind of freak you out? And doesn't your, ah…." I blushed a little, trying to find the right way to say it without sounding like a weirdo.

"For your first question, not really. I have had to watch myself hitting my head on some things I didn't have watch before, but outside of a few inconveniences, it's welcome," she smiled faintly. "If you're implying certain _other_ things...also true. My parts are...intact. Technically. I can't have children. I don't have a sex drive anymore." She shrugged. "Children and sex aren't necessarily priorities right now. It was something I could handle."

"Huh. Thanks for answering that, Sierra. I just...well…" I blushed even more. "Sorry if I sounded awkward there. I respect your choice to do what you did, and it's awesome what you can do now. But I don't think I'm that brave enough to give up things like that."

"Bravery isn't that important when it comes to this, if we are here, we are all brave, yourself included. You had a life and future ahead, and decided this was what you wanted to do, despite the risks You could've chosen to go to college, or stay in the PRIESTs. Few your age would be allowed to come here. Fewer would willingly do so. Compared to me, at your age I was still trying to figure out my life, and worrying about trivial things. I don't know if I would have accepted like you did. You made a brave choice coming here, don't think you're less brave than I am."

The way she said it wasn't insulting or degrading in any way, rather more affirmative in nature. "You're right. And I did, and I'm living with the result of those choices. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that when it comes to sacrifice, I'm not really sure how much I'll need to sacrifice fully for this."

"I don't understand…"

"Here. Let me put it this way. Do you mind if I use you as an example?"

Go ahead."

"Okay. You, for instance. Before this, you were an Archangel - a really good one. But after your injuries, you had a chance to do better. _Become_ better, become something special, something no one had really done before. You sacrificed your own body, along with some of the things many people take for granted, all to become a better soldier. Right?"

"Right."

"See, what I'm saying here is that _this_ -" I gestured to her. "Is something I may have to do - well, not exactly _this_ , but something like it in the future. I may have to do something radical like this if I want to stay alive or get better. I might have to make a choice, Sierra. A choice that could affect me and others around me." I looked down. "And I don't know if I'm going to be ready to make a choice like that. I'm proud of who I am now. I'm beyond anything I'd ever thought I would be. I'm a soldier. I'm a psion. I'm helping make history."

"But I know there's much more for me to do. A _lot_ more. And in the future, there might come a time where I'm going to be in a position like you. I'll have to make a choice, a sacrifice, something." I sighed. "And if that time comes, I don't know if I can do something like that. For so long, before this, I was just following a path. School, homework, friends...it was just so natural. It was a pattern, one that I got used to. And I'll get used to it - I already am."

"So you're afraid that something will happen, and you won't be able to make a clear-cut decision on what to do."

"I guess that's one way of putting it."

She pursed her lips for a moment. "You asked me earlier what it was like being a MEC. I thought about that a lot too, before making my decision. You want to know why I said yes?"

 _Where was she going with this?_ "Sure."

"At first, when I was offered it, I wasn't exactly sure about it. Becoming almost entirely made of metal? Not something I could decide right away, obviously," her hand rested idly on the table."But I gave it a lot of thinking. I talked with another MEC pilot about it. After talking with her, and my friends, I knew I should do it."

"And why's that?"

"Because, in the end, I was the most qualified. I had the experience, the skill, and the knowledge. It was a sacrifice, yes, but one I felt like I could do _because_ of what I had learned and experienced." She paused, looking me in the eyes. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"I think? You made the choice to become a MEC because you made an educated decision due to your experience and personal judgement."

"Right. And that's the thing, Dawn. You're new. You'll get experience. Through _that_ , you're going to learn more than you ever could just reading files and doing Dreamscape runs. You build that knowledge _out there_ , over time. You'll learn things, get better, become deadlier. And eventually, if you face a choice like I did..." she looked at me with a confident grin. "Then I think you'll know what to do."

She had a point. I'd be a fool if I didn't take what she said seriously. She'd killed hundreds, maybe even somewhere over a thousand enemies. She'd fought in some of XCOM's nastiest engagements, and had seen some serious shit. The only way I could confront a fear like that was to work at it and practice.

I smiled. "Thanks, Sierra. That really helped. A lot."

"Feel better?"

"Yeah. I guess I shouldn't be worrying about that kind of thing right now. But thanks. Really. That helped a lot."

"No problem." She said. "Anyday. I have to go soon, but I've got a sim slot open in a few days. You want in?"

I nodded. "Of course."

As she walked off, making a beeline for another MEC pilot who I didn't recognize, I stared at the MEC suit, hanging off the wall, towering over me. Damn, that thing was a beauty. Suppose there can be beauty in destruction, I guess. Yet Sierra's words had had a calming effect on me. I shouldn't be worrying about the future - worrying about _now_ would be more productive.

Speaking of now, my phone buzzed, reminding me of the upcoming highlight of my day. I was getting an...upgrade, let's call it.

 _Meet me in the firing range. Bring your Psi Armor, and don't be late!_ A picture of a psi rifle was attached.

_-Kunio_

I grinned. This was going to be good.

* * *

_Firing Range, Praesidium_

_6/28/17- 2:30 PM_

I walked up to Kunio in my full Psi Armor, waving.

"Dawn," he greeted. "Ready to test out a new gun?"

I nodded eagerly. I'd seen plenty of other psions use it, but I'd held off on using it for a while due to the fact that I was both new and had been working to get a better grip on my abilities. Now that I'd been here for some time, and had gotten much better, thanks to my teachers, it was about time for me to up the ante.

"Can't wait."

"Here. Let me show you how it works." I picked up the gun, feeling it with my hands. It was angular and black, yet sleeker and less bulkier than the plasma rifle I was used to.

Kunio noticed the way I was gingerly inspecting it."Be careful with it, it's a delicate weapon, and not as strong as the plasma rifle. Handle it with care."

 _Don't rough it up too much. Got it._ I noticed the wires hanging off the butt of the weapon.

"Wait. Do those cords go.."

"Yep. Into your wrist. Don't worry, though. It doesn't hurt."

I nodded, laying the gun on the table and linking the cords into my dominant hand's wrist. I felt a slight tingle as the cords connected with my internal implants. Once I heard a satisfying _click_ sound, I gripped it with both hands, getting a better feel for the weapon.

"Alright, good start, he nodded. "Now what you're going to want to do here is aim it normally, but remember that it draws its power from you. Use it too much and too quickly, and you'll feel exhausted."

"Alright," I aimed the gun at the target, finger on the trigger. I breathed in, and as I breathed out, I fired. With a small _pew_ sound, a small psionic bolt flew out of the barrel and into the target's head, leaving a smoking hole in its head. I didn't necessarily feel any drain - then again, Kunio said I'd have to feel something if I fired too rapidly or too much.

"How does it feel?"

"Not bad. It's no plasma rifle, but at least I won't have to worry about running out of ammo. It feels a bit lighter than what I'm used to, but I think I could get used to this." I fired again, taking off the target's arm. It hit pretty hard, and had less recoil. And, personally, it looked cooler. I readjusted my aim, firing a longer burst into its legs and chest, shattering what was left into pieces. I felt a small drain. Must've been what Kunio was talking about.

"What do you think?"

A small smile grew on my face. "I think I could get used to this, Kunio. Felt that drain you were talking about. Definitely going to use this more in the Dreamscape later."

"You seem a bit happier lately. What's up?"

"Oh. Well, I've got some good news. I talked to my parents."

He nodded. "And?"

"Went pretty well. Talked to my dad and mom separately, gave my point of view and told them how I honestly felt. They took it well. Went better than I expected, actually. They're considering moving here."

"Oh! Well, that's good."

"Oh, you have no idea how relieving it was. I was kind of on edge during the whole thing, honestly." I put the gun down, disconnecting the cords from my wrist. "I was afraid I'd be saying the wrong thing, and it'd all go to shit. I hate to admit it, but as much as my parents had an issue with me joining, that was just the start."

"I can imagine," he said sympathetically.

"What I did caused some...problems with my extended family. Remember when I told you about my uncle Frederic?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. My aunt and cousins didn't take my choice well. I was close to them - very good people, spent a lot of summers with them. Good times. They essentially have the same worry that my parents do about me."

"That something bad will happen to you and you'll come out completely changed?"

I nodded. "Yeah. My grandparents are also a bit disapproving. They knew quite a few people who went off to war and just never returned or came back completely." I waved a hand. "That can be dealt with later, though. But that's not the real kicker."

"Something else bothering you?"

"Yeah. When I joined XCOM, I couldn't exactly tell my friends. Secrets and all. Only reason Mary knew is because she's already in the PRIESTs, and info there is kept to a minimum. I've had to keep acting through our group chat that I'm still in the PRIESTs. I can't even do videocalls with them, because of the augs." I gestured to my golden-rimmed eyes and hexagon-adorned face.

"You going to talk to Yates about this?"

"Oh yeah. I just feel guilty for lying to them, you know? I know it's in the name of secrecy and all, but honestly, I feel like if I told them, I'd be putting them, myself, and my family in danger. It could be totally unfounded, or maybe I'm, just being paranoid."

I looked at Kunio. "Thanks for listening. I trust you, you know?"

He nodded. "Well, that's what friends are for, no?"

"Fair enough. Now...about a little competition?"

"What do you mean?"

"You down for some shooting, portal boy?"

* * *

_Ten minutes later_

Kunio's shot hit the target right in between the eyes, taking the head clean off.

"Another one." He lowered the gun with a satisfied smile. "And I believe that's eleven for me, ten for you."

I snorted. "Show-off. My turn."

I stepped up, aimed my gun, and pulled the trigger. The bolt nearly hit, barely glancing the target's neck, hitting the wall behind it. "Shit!"

He gave me a small grin. "Everyone misses."

He stepped up and fired again, hitting the target in the chest. As we'd progressed, the targets had been moved further and further back, as well as moving from left to right with increasing speed to make them harder to hit overall. It was a nice challenge, and kept you on your toes. You really had to focus and concentrate if you wanted to hit your shots.

At least my shooting had gotten much better since coming here. My old aim was absolutely atrocious. If Kunio had gone up against the old me, I wouldn't have had a chance. Made me wonder how he'd do against Carreria. She'd been in the military longer than both of us combined. Hmm. Maybe that could be arranged.

_Focus on one thing at a time, Dawn._

I stepped up, and aimed. However, I didn't fire just yet. I noticed that two of the targets were going to cross paths soon. Perhaps...oh yes. Yes, this would be something.

"You going to shoot, Dawn?"

I chuckled, aiming down the sights.

 _Steady._ The two targets came closer and closer. If a normal human was holding the gun, it would've been nearly impossible to tag both at the speeds they were traveling at.

 _Breathe._ My pull on the trigger tightened.

 _Aim._ I lined up my sight with one of the targets, tracking it as it moved towards the second.

As soon as one overlapped the other, I fired.

_Bam._

The two dummy's heads exploded at the same time, completely decapitating both.

I put down the gun, turning to him. "Twelve me, eleven you."

"Good shot. You're catching up to me."

"Well, I have a good teacher."

"The Borelian? I don't believe I've actually met her."

"You should. I think you'd like her. She looks intimidating on the outside, but she's actually quite nice."

"Seems like that could apply to a lot of aliens. Maybe it shouldn't be surprising that she's a bit warm and fuzzy on a personal level."

"Ha ha ha ha ha. Very funny."

"What's your opinion of Paperclip Base like? I've not been there often."

"Oh. Uh, I've only ever really been to her quarters, so I really can't vouch for it. She is going to give me a little tour of it soon, though. She told me I'd be meeting some of her _other_ friends, which sounds cool."

" That's nice of her."

"Between you and me, Kunio, I think she might see me as a sort of daughter-like figure."

One of his eyebrows went up. "Oh?"

"Yeah. She calls me 'cub', which is _super cute_ , by the way. She's got a lot of experience, and she's been teaching me a lot of stuff. War stories, tactical advice - she really knows her shit. Oh, and don't get into a fistfight with her. Ever."

"Figures. But that's nice you've got her working with you one-on-one."

"Yeah. She's been really kind to me. Never really got to know an alien so well before meeting her. She's left a good impression on me, I'll give her that."

"So she's been like a parent figure to you?"

"Well, yeah. But a mentor too. The Commander chose her well to help train me."

"Well, I'm glad you see her that way."

I shrugged. "Eh, made sense to me. She's done a lot to help me, and it'd just make me look like an asshole if I refused it. Hell, I practice with Caelior sometimes now."

"So I've noticed."

"Yeah. He's actually kind of a nice guy once you get to know him. Be lying if I said I didn't feel bad for him."

He cocked his head. "Oh?"

"He's been through a lot. It's...hard to explain without getting into some private stuff, but let's just say that pretty much almost everyone in his life treated him like shit and we're the first people to actually pretend to give a damn about him. He's doing better, but it's a start. We've been talking some things out, doing some telepathy practice."

"Hey, it's alright. You're respecting his privacy. That's a good thing to do. You were on his team for the basketball tournament, right?"

I grinned. "Still sore I beat you?"

"Nah. I'll get you next time."

"I'll be waiting. But...Kunio. Thanks for listening."

He fired again, hitting a dummy in the chest. "Anytime."

His phone buzzed, catching his attention.

"Ah. I gotta go, Dawn."

"Simulation?"

"Yeah. I gotta go. Hey, see you around."

"Alright. I gotta go put this armor away anyhow."

He smiled. "See you later. Oh - do you want to see a magic trick?"

"Couldn't hurt. what-"

His hand flared with psionic energy, and I dropped into the floor, appearing in the armory.

I yelped in surprise. "What the-fuck!" _Oh. I just got teleported. Wonderful._ "Little bit of warning next time, Kunio?"

I looked at myself, making sure everything was still on one piece. Huh. It certainly didn't feel like what I thought getting shot through the Psionosphere in a portal would feel like, but it wasn't _bad_ or anything. Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess.

I shrugged, as I began to remove the armor, piece by piece. I had more important things to worry about.

Funny. A little over a month ago I had arrived here, worried out of my mind and had no clue what to do next. I was a wide-eyed rookie with all these ideas about what XCOM would be like, and felt alone, being the young person I was.

How wrong I was about myself back then, thinking so little of myself. I thought that just because I was a kid, no one would take me seriously. That I might somehow fail out because I was afraid of what I might have to do.

Now, here I was, being friends with a teleporter, a large fuzzy alien, and a nine-foot tall teenager capable of leveling cities, taking all of it in stride while simultaneously learning how to use my mind not just to think and act, but as a weapon.

Funny how only last year my greatest concern was getting into a college and getting good grades.

Then again, a lot of things had changed in only a year.

Made me wonder how things would look a year from now.

Hopefully, things would get better in that time.

As I put my uniform back on, I felt something in my pocket.

I reached in and pulled it out, thinking it was something I'd forgotten to throw away, I instead pulled out a photo.

_Silly me. Must've forgotten to put it away after I showed it to Carreria earlier._

I unfolded the picture, revealing a copy of a black-and-white photograph of my grandfather in his uniform, standing in the middle of a group of OSS officers. I immediately recognized two of them - James Donovan, the founder of the organization, and Moe Berg, a major league ball player who'd been essential in gathering information on the Nazi's nuclear weapons project. I flipped the picture over, showing a little message written in ink.

_To Dawn. This is a much younger me at Camp X before being deployed to assist Yugoslavian partisans. Look it up - it was really something!_

_Keep this with you for inspiration. I'll alway be there for you!_

_Love you!_

Written at the bottom was a smiley face. I closed the picture, putting it back in my pocket. I was only seven when my grandpa died. He'd put it in his will that his old war stuff - medals, letters, photos, things like that which would be given to my sister and I once we were old enough to understand. A few of his other things were back in my room.

_Would you have been proud of me, gramps? Carrying on your legacy of kicking tyrants right where it hurts?_

I looked at the grin on his face, the pride he had from serving his country and doing all the good that came with his job, and coming out of it barely unscathed with a few medals for some well-deserved honors.

_You know what? I think he would be. At the end of the day, he and I fight for the same purpose. To defend what we know and love, whatever the cost._

_And isn't that what matters in the end?_

I smiled, putting the photo back into my pocket.

_Thanks, Gramps. I really needed that._

_I love you, man. I wish you could see who I am now. What I do now._

_I do it to protect your children, and everything they've built._

_To protect the world you and your comrades fought so hard to protect._

_I do what I do so the sacrifices you made would not be in vain, and that you can rest, knowing that we will live free._

_Wish me luck._

* * *

_Caelior's Quarters, Praesidium_

_6/27/17- 7:35 PM_

The ship flew up into the sky, away from Earth and into the stars as the music played, and we watched as the screen went black, ending the film. I turned to the other watcher of the movie, his helm curiously leaned towards the screen.

"So." I decided to break the silence. "What did you think of it? It's good, right?"

"While I can recognize its more...juvenile aspects, I see why you wished to show me this movie. I must say, your species is quite unique when it comes to fictional stories. Such were rare in the days of the Empire."

"Wait, you guys had movies?"

"Yes. Though they were not as...how do you say, emotionally invested as yours. They are more...clinical. Comparable in some ways to documentaries. Focusing on the larger picture of the plot, and less the characters. It was to primarily convey ideas the Empire thought were provoking or important. Visuals were highly important. It was not considered as...entertainment as yours are. It was something many in the Divisions did on a regular basis. Almost educational, in a way, and later, propaganda.."

"Really? No romance or action movies?" I wondered if they had sitcoms or soap operas. An Ethereal soap opera. Heh, that' be something.

"Military displays were fairly common, but it was more cerebral and strategic in the portrayal. Less explosions, more meetings. Romance is...not the same. Ethereals are not as emotional. Such stories of bonding occured, but they rarely were a focus, and tied into larger themes of parenthood and that experience. Many of those who wished to be parents watched them for education on raising a child. Far from your own romances which often seem...shallow. Ludicrous at some points."

I almost laughed out loud on that one. He wasn't entirely wrong about that.

"Beyond such videos, the usage of psionics in training or for recreation allowed us to have an engaging recreation. There were places similar to your parks where we practiced with our psionics. Sometimes there would be animals to control, though this was very regulated."

"You mind-controlled animals?"

He nodded. "In schools, specifically in biology, animals would be brought in from various planets for us to study. Entering an animal's mind, learning its thought processes and seeing through its eyes can be...an enlightening experience."

"I can imagine. It sounds interesting, but at the same time a little immoral."

"Because we were controlling them? That is hardly malicious, it was not as though they were abused."

"Oh." I cleared my throat. "So, uh, the movie?"

"Ah, yes. The 'Eee-Tee' creature is curious and has some similarities to my own species, via the telepathic connection between the boy and the extraterrestrial, and its manipulation of the flowers seemed reminiscent of biopathy."

"Fair. I'd watched the movie too many times when I was a little kid. My sister never really liked it, but I always found it charming, wholesome even. But I have to thank my parents for showing me it."

"You watched this with your family?"

"Um...yeah. We'd have a movie night every Friday. Get on the couch with some popcorn, hang out together and watch something. Why?"

His helm slightly tilted down. "It is not the same experience with my own family. We had bonding experiences, yes. Mother would always find time in her day to take me to play spaces, like the one I told you about earlier. She would read me stories, and tell me about her family's history. Did you know that her great-grandfather was a Battlemaster?"

My eyes widened. "No shit?"

He nodded. "'No shit.'"

He had been picking up on human slang and...other words since joining XCOM. It was kind of funny when you heard a being like an Ethereal say words or phrases that a human would normally find insulting or hilarious. But here, the blunt way he said it made it even more funny. I didn't laugh though, but I did give a smile and a chuckle.

"But back to what I was saying. Due to the psionic bond created while I was growing in my mother's uterus, there was something of an emotional connection. But the truth was, while there was love concerning both my parents and extended family, it was not love like you understand it. Their emotional capacity was limited, but it was not their fault. It's just how we are, Dawn."

As he spoke, I could feel something from his mind. Normally it was locked up tight, but I could feel something almost resonating from him. Then again, I was pretty much sitting right next to him, and if something was off, I could tell. It felt like...almost regret. Sadness.

"That movie for example, Dawn. The human child could have easily abandoned the alien, left him alone for the government or a wild animal to take him. But no. He took him in and helped him, with a great risk."

_Where was he going with this?_

"I looked at the family in the movie, and it was almost completely different from the family I had, with the exception of the absent father. Yes, they had their issues and tensions. There is no doubt there. But they had a _connection_ , love for one another. The young daughter, for example. She was irritating, yes, but yet her brothers cared about her. Protected her. The older brother helped the alien escape, even though it may have resulted in him dying. There was a _trust_ there, a bond more... _real._ " He sounded frustrated. I really hoped he didn't freak out again like he did in the Dreamscape.

"I don't feel right, Dawn. I had a family, but it seemed...empty. My birth and my psionics made me stand out, and that's only what made people care about me. It wasn't because I was a child, it was because my mother and father got lucky when attempting to have a child. A childhood I did not fully experience because of the war Selfish...but I realize now that choice has been deprived of me my entire life, knowing and unknowing."

"I..." I wasn't sure what to say.

"And look where I am now.. All because they used me, and I am here with an alien species who I find I feel more connected to than my own." He turned away from me, shutting the TV off. "Something I could not have expected. Almost jealousy."

"Jealous of what? Not having enough emotional connections?"

His voice was soft. "I suppose that is a way to qualify it. Being among your species makes me realize what I lacked in my life. The war took my childhood, and my parents were...more distant than I was. I was not normal, in more ways than one. That is what I wish I had at some point. A family which saw me for who I was, not because of what I could do."

"Doesn't XCOM kind of do that already?"

"Yes, but it is a start. I have become better. I have grown. I have learned. I became something that not even the Ethereal Empire could forge. But I wish I could say I am healed from what I am now aware of. There is something missing."

And then I realized what he was getting at.

What Caelior described to me was what years of fighting and lack of connection and love gave him. If I didn't know any better, what had happened to him was borderline emotional abuse. Manipulation, lies, gaslighting, lack of caring people in his life - he was a tool to them, both in the Empire and the Collective, not a person. And when he lost his usefulness, they threw him away like they did everything and everyone else who strayed from the Imperator's will.

I was glad Caelior was still alive. But it was very clear that he had a lot of internalized pain and loss. He never got to be a kid like I did - or at least the Ethereal equivalent, or have a life, make his own choices. From day one, his genetics defined him, and that was both his blessing and his curse. He was powerful - but the more powerful he was, the more of his worth as a person was reduced. Deep down, there was a part of him that hadn't fully grown. The sentiment of being afraid and needing someone to lean on was still there.

Even though I couldn't see through his helm, I could feel the pain and anger under it. It felt reminiscent of the Dreamscape incident. Sadness. Pain. Loneliness.

"You have a home here. With us. We _do_ care about you, Caelior. You've got a second chance here. You have mentors and teachers that are productive and actually give a shit about you getting better."

"While that may be true for now, it cannot be like that forever. Though I feel like I can tell you these things because I trust you and you're a nice person and you listen to what I say." He paused. "Am I talking too much?"

I shook my head.

"No. You're being perfectly honest."

And with that, I decided to do something that he more than needed.

I scooted over and hugged him.

For a moment, he said nothing, simply looking down at my arms doing their damn best to hug as much of him as possible. Then, I felt a gentle pull of telekinesis wrap around me, pulling me up to his shoulder area.

And he hugged me right back, with all four arms.

It didn't feel cheesy or romantic. It just felt warm. I could feel his body relax, as the grip on me was quite delicate. He didn't say a word - we just sat there- or in my case, floated there, and hugged it out.

After a minute, he lowered me back onto the couch, passing the popcorn tub to me.

"That was a hug, right?"

"Damn right it was."

"That was...very nice."

"Do you feel better?"

"Yes, Dawn. I think I do. For now."

"You want to watch another movie, maybe? Same time next week? You get to pick."

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, and Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for the hug."

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_6/30/17- 8:52 PM_

I got into my bunk, and under the covers, pulling out my phone. I propped the pillow against the wall, laying back and staring at the ceiling. I had to admit, this was usually the most relaxing part of my day. Out of my uniform, in my nightclothes, surrounded by my friends, in one of the most comfortable beds I'd ever slept in. I had to give it to XCOM, they spent a pretty penny- or alloy, really, to make sure their soldiers felt comfortable.

Things had been going decently. The Collective had been pushed back from Aleppo, Caelior had been kicking some serious ass in Salt Lake City, and the Hiveship in Turkey had been damaged somewhat. Things felt a little better, but this was far from over.

My phone buzzed. _Weird. Thought I hadn't missed any messages._ My eyes widened when I picked it up, the screen displaying a message from Bronis. I opened it, my heart almost skipping a beat.

_Dawn Conley,_

_Your latest reports have demonstrated that you are ready for combat. Because of this, you have been assigned to your first mission. More details will be linked below._

Oh fuck. It was happening. It was _really_ happening.

I scrolled down, my heart picking up while my whole body filled with a mix of nervousness and excitement.

_Operation: Syracuse_

_Mission Parameters: To assist ADVENT in Operation: Scipio, XCOM will assault the city of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to liberate it from the Ethereal Collective and SAS._

_Your primary objectives are to secure two Gateways within the city and the elimination of any SAS or Collective forces._

"What's going on, Dawn?"

"I got assigned to my first mission!"

Her eyebrows went up. "Really? Where?"

"Malabo. Equatorial Guinea. Going to liberate a city from the SAS."

"Alright. You think you're ready?"

I nodded. "Y-yes. Just a little worried about it."

She patted my shoulder. "Hey, they wouldn't have assigned you for that if they didn't think you were ready."

_Take a deep breath, Dawn._

Fuck. Okay. This was happening. This was _actually happening._

This was going for real, Dawn.

"Dawn? You okay? Do you need something?"

I waved her off. "No, no. It's okay, I'm okay. I'm alright."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. Wan'an, Lian! "

She looked at me reluctantly. "Goodnight, Dawn!"

Well, it was going to happen sometime.

Time to prepare, then.

* * *

 **A/N:** 100K words finally! So happy!

So in August, I'll be going to college. I'm not going to lie- I have no idea how much this will affect my writing output. I'll do my best to post one chapter a month for you all, but we'll see. I won't have as much free time as I do now, but unfortunately, no guarantees. My chapters might be shorter, my posting schedule might be more random, I'm not sure One thing's for sure though- New Blood is, has been, and will continue to be an absolute blast to write. Writing a story in the Xabiarverse from a teenage perspective has been a very interesting and fun experience, and one I will continue to write. I can assure you that you will still be getting more of Dawn Conley and her various adventures, and am glad her character has been received so well. And thanks for the support. Couldn't have done this without you all, after all. Shoutout to Xabiar for approving this story, as well as his Editing Team, and Guest Contributors for helping me with in-depth universe and lore information, as well as giving me inspiration, ideas, some cool art, and going over my work to make sure it is accurate both grammar and lore-wise. Without them, this fic would've never come to be, and wouldn't be as good as it is now.

 _Vigilo Confido_ ,

OfficialWeedTesterGuy

* * *

To be continued in:

**Operation: Syracuse**


	13. Operation: Syracuse

_Briefing Room, Praesidium_

_7/1/17 - 4:22 PM_

_Okay Dawn, it's your first mission. Don't do anything stupid. Just focus, listen, and kill things._

I sighed, opening my eyes. I was clad in my Aurora armor, Psi rifle slung over my back. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. Then again, this had been coming. I'd done well in training, and everything checked out. My biopathy still took a bit to actually do its thing, but it was better than nothing.

I walked into the briefing room, helmet under my arm, putting a smile on my face. I straightened out my hair, as it was in a mess after changing into my armor.

 _Please don't look like a nervous wreck._ A woman who I presumed was Sahra Kesselman, the squad overseer, walked up to greet me.

"Dawn! Welcome to your first mission!"

_Act professional. Don't make them think this is some kind of babysitting service. You're a soldier, just like them. Nothing more, nothing less._

I extended a hand. "Thanks. It's a pleasure to be here. I have to admit I'm a bit excited, ma'am. Ready to do my part."

"Call me Overseer. Glad you're here, Dawn. I'm sure you'll do well."

I nodded. "Yeah, thanks. Where's Kunio?"

"The teleporter? He's on his way."

I turned towards the briefing table, where the rest of the soldiers were standing around. The huge dude with the buzz cut must've been Hank, the gunner. I'd seen their weaponry in action, it made me a little jealous, to be honest. But, as much as lugging around a veritable cannon and mowing down everything you saw sounded awesome, psionics could do that just as easily, and with less effort. In my case, I didn't need bullets to kill a crowd of people, all I needed was a thought.

He noticed I was looking at him and nodded back, as well as the rest of the squad. Okay, a little awkward, but it could be worse. I gazed at the rest of the room. Those two women in the back chatting must've been our two Engineers. The chick with the alloy cannon had to be Henderson, and the one guy left must have been Matthew...who? Damnit, I'd forgotten his name. Have to ask what it was later.

Sahra walked over to me. "You look nervous."

"A little, ma-Overseer. Pre-mission jitters, I guess."

She nodded, smiling at me. "I get it. We've all been there." She gestured to the rest of the squad. "Is there anything in particular you're worried about, or is it just about the op in general?"

I shrugged, trying to suppress the very obvious terror on my face. "The whole thing overall, I guess. Afraid I might mess something up."

"Try not to focus on what you _might_ do. Focus on what you _should_ do. When you're in the moment, focus on _that_. Don't overwhelm yourself by thinking of everything that could go wrong, think about what _you_ can do to make it go right, so that it doesn't go wrong. You see what I'm saying?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"We'll definitely be fighting human SAS soldiers in this op. Have you gone against them in sims before?"

"Once or twice. But it's fine. They're the enemy, and I'll kill them if I have to."

She patted me on the shoulder. "Good. And your biopathy?"

"I can only kill one or two targets with it right now, and I need a few minutes to actually do it. I'll stick with my regular telepathy, only use my biopathy if I feel it's absolutely necessary."

"Alright then, you're all set. Now, we'll wait for Kunio. The briefing will start when he gets here. If you need anything, tell me."

"Got it." I leaned against the wall, gazing around the room. A minute later, I noticed Kunio walk in, and I pushed myself off of the wall to say hi.

"Kunio!"

"Dawn! You all ready to go?"

"I think so, though I'm a bit nervous."

He responded in a reassuring voice. "Everyone has their first time."

Sahra walked over to us, smiling at me warmly. "You'll do fine. Just do what I said. Follow orders, kill some aliens, and you'll fall into a rhythm. Of course, we have to get there first."

_Awww, thanks._

The Commander walked in a few moments later. We all quickly gathered around the table.

_This is it, Dawn. This is where it begins._

"All of you have been apprised of the overview of Operation Syracuse. This is expected to be a low-intensity operation, and an augment to the ongoing Operation Scipio ADVENT is conducting."

The briefing table lit up to highlight the target in question. "Malabo is the capital of the Equatorial Guinea, and, fortunately, on an island off of the continent and SAS mainland. ADVENT is seeking a staging point to move onto the mainland proper, for the latter stages of Scipio, and the island Malabo is on serves that purpose, is minimally protected, and vulnerable."

"Objectives, sir?" Sahra asked.

"Malabo has two major Gateways the Collective installed. XCOM Intelligence has located where they are – they aren't hidden or overly well-protected, but they need to be secured to prevent a rapid reinforcement of the island. Once both Gateways are secured, ADVENT will begin moving in forces to mop up the remaining SAS and Collective forces."

Kunio spoke up. "We want this to be a stealth operation?"

"Ideally, until you secure the Gateways," the Commander said with a nod. "Directly destroying their power sources would accomplish the same thing. If you must destroy the Gateways, that is acceptable, but they should, ideally, be taken intact, since ADVENT can utilize them to rapidly reinforce the island."

_A stealth op? Huh. This is going to be interesting._

Bryanna lifted a hand. "Question, sir. Are we going to be receiving any assistance in the operation? Or are we on our own?"

"Admiral Grady will be standing by to provide cruise missile assistance. He will also be in contact with you during the operation, and will be opening lines to the SAS command. It's unlikely to accomplish much, but he is going to attempt to see if the SAS forces stand down. Otherwise, he will be your primary means of assisting in the takedown of the few Sectopods on the island."

 _We have cruise missiles?_ I couldn't help but slightly grin. _Oh, this op just got ten times better. I'm not going to say no to some free fireworks._

She nodded sharply. "Understood, sir. So no Lancer support."

"Not this time."

The Overseer looked over the hologram. "Both Gateways seem close together. We could secure both of them quickly, and call in the reinforcements."

"Or cruise missiles," So suggested with a faint smile on her face.

"Or those," Sahra agreed. "Kunio, you're our teleporter – where do you think we'll start?"

Kunio indicated the exterior. "I'll bring us outside of the city perimeter. Teleporting directly into the city is risky – a very high chance that we could be seen by someone, be they civilians or soldiers. We'll be preparing on the carrier, I assume?"

"That's correct," the Commander said.

_We get to go on an aircraft carrier? I'll be damned, never been on one of those before._

Sahra nodded. "Good, we can work with that. Stealth is going to be the biggest issue – we have some advantages, namely night, the minimal number of Collective and SAS personnel, and the curfew."

She looked at me. "I know you're a Biopath, but you're also a telepath. We're going to need your telepathy here. Make sure that anyone we might encounter is detected or neutralized. Can you do that?"

I gulped. "I can."

"No special units we should be aware of?" Sahra asked the Commander. "Outside of the Sectopods, obviously."

"XCOM Intelligence has not reported anything," the Commander ticked off his fingers. "Mutons, Runianarch, Sectopods. There was a _potential_ sighting of a Seeker, but this is not confirmed. Again, this is a minimal presence for now – we expect that to change shortly as Admiral Grady's fleet moves closer."

"Understood."

"There is one more thing," the Commander said slowly. "The Gateways are likely to be connected to Collective points of interest - bases, and so on. We have an opportunity here to do significant infrastructural damage. Your squad is authorized to carry a low-yield portable nuclear explosive into this mission, prime it, and send it to the Collective."

Wait, what? My heart almost leaped out of my throat as he said that.

_I'm sorry, did he say a nuclear weapon?_

Looks like the stakes just got raised.

The Commander and the rest of the team talked about it- priming it, the likelihood of the Collective accepting the package through the Gateway, but I kind of zoned out.

I knew hard decisions like this would have to be made, especially with the stunts the Collective had pulled recently, but...fuck. I felt...heavier. Like a weight had been placed on my shoulders.

_How many is that bomb going to kill? Thousands? Millions?_

_What if it hits a city?_

I snapped back to reality. Fuck. Pay attention, Dawn.

The Commander was looking at me and Kunio. "I know this operation is going to be a bit different for some of you, but I've seen you are capable of during your training and elsewhere. I'm certain you'll succeed here. Good luck."

The Commander saluted, and we all responded in kind. After he left, Sahra rested her hands on the table. "Alright, we've got a few hours left before the mission. Let's hash out the details, get some dinner, get some short rest, and then head out. Any objections?"

No one said anything. With a slight grin, she nodded. "Good. Let's get started."

Maybe some tacos would get the nuclear weapon off my mind for a bit.

* * *

_Mess Hall, Praesidium_

_One Hour Later_

Like Uncle Frederic said, 'never go into battle on an empty stomach'.

True enough, but here it was more like "never handle a weapon of mass destruction on an empty stomach".

As I dived into my second taco, fresh from a quick nap, Kunio sat down next to me, both of us in our Psi armor jumpsuits. I liked the sleek, black look of the suit. Felt like a one-piece, though much more stylish.

"You ready?"

"Ready as I can be. I must say, I didn't expect my first mission to be against the SAS. But hey, a mission's a mission."

He shrugged. "I suppose. My first mission was the Caelior rescue. Hopefully this will go smoother."

I grinned. "Oh, I'm sure it'll go better than that. Just seize control of some Gateways and kill any enemies we see. Simple enough."

"And deliver the bomb."

I took another bite. "Yeah. That, too. Didn't expect _that_ of all things, but hey. If it hurts the Collective, I've got no issue with it."

"You're not concerned about it?"

I shrugged. "The Collective's done worse to us. Don't see why we can't bite back."

"Fair. You let your family know?"

"Yeah, texted them before I hit the sack. Couldn't get a video call in - they're at work. They wished me luck, though. Visited my sister, too. Things got a little emotional. Keeping it quiet from Mary, though. If I come back, most I'll say is that I went on a mission and killed some aliens."

"Fair enough."

I nodded. "Kunio, listen. Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

I pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket and handed it to him. "Kunio, I trust you. A lot. So I'm giving you this."

"What is it?"

I paused, twiddling my fingers. "If I don't come back...on this mission, or ever, I'd like you to have it."

He unfolded it. It was a picture of me and him outside of the gym, a week or two after I'd gotten here. I'd just gotten my augmentations for real. He'd taken it upon himself to do some workouts with me, to show just how much I could do with my enhanced muscles. The look on my face when I lifted a 160-kilogram weight without breaking a sweat got a laugh out of him. Nothing like having super-strength, I suppose.

He solemnly nodded, pocketing it. "Thank you Dawn, I appreciate that."

"Hey, I trust you. It's the least I can do for you. You've been such a big help and a great friend. Honestly, if you weren't here, I don't think my time here at XCOM would be so enjoyable. You've been supportive, you comforted me when I had that meltdown..." I blushed. Jeez, I sounded cheesy as hell. "In a way, you've kind of been like a brother to me, y'know? Like the older brother type who watches over his younger sibling, giving him advice and having a good time while doing so."

"Hey, no worries. I get it. You look up to me. That's a good thing."

"Yeah, but I don't want to sound like I'm super clingy or anything."

He waved it off. "No, no. You're not. You're showing gratitude and appreciation. No worries, Dawn."

"Thanks. Anyway, it's a gift. I'd thought you'd like it."

"I do like it. It's nice." He looked at the photo for a moment, gulping. "Thank you for trusting me with this.. I'll keep it with me."

I smirked. "Think of it as a memento from your friend who can melt you."

"A _great_ friend, that is. I'm glad you're here, Dawn. You're a good person, and XCOM would be lesser without you."

"And without you, I could never say that I have a friend who can teleport."

I held up my glass of soda. "Cheers. To being friends!"

"To being friends!"

We clinked glasses, and drank. It was go time. Time to kill some aliens- for real this time.

I was ready.

* * *

_Joseph Ray Shannon- Deck_

_7/2/2017- 11:22 PM_

I stood on the deck of the huge ship, looking at our target in the distance. My helmet was off, taking in the cool sea air. It felt good, actually. Reminded me of the beach vacations we used to take as a family. Mom would always complain about the sand in the car, Dad would always play his annoying, yet catchy, 80's music, and I would constantly get sand in my hair.

Sure, it could be rough, coarse, irritating, and get everywhere, but there was something _alluring_ about it. The way it flowed through your fingers, its golden color, the many ways in which you could shape and play with it. Kind of like what I did with cells, only instead of building sandcastles, I was the metaphorical wave that destroyed their structure.

I missed those days. Maybe, one day, I could do that again.

But not today. Today was about killing aliens.

_You can do this. You're not going to mess anything up._

I turned around, looking at the rest of the squad. Kunio had seemed a bit on edge ever since arriving on the carrier. He hid it well from the rest of them, but I could tell. It was about teleporting, I was sure, and I was fully confident in him that he could do it. After all, he had T'Leth's best teleporter teaching him every step of the way.

Not sure why her psionics were green, though.

But hey, as long as he didn't send us to Desolan or Paradise, I'd be content with it.

Sahra walked up to us. "Slight change of plans."

Hank looked at her. "Good or bad?"

"Good. The SAS commander on the island surrendered."

_I'm sorry, what?_

I blurted out a very surprised "What?", as the rest of our squad reacted to the news, mostly with raised eyebrows and a few gaping mouths.

Kunio blinked. "What do you mean _surrendered?_ Can they do that?"

Sahra responded. "Well, yes and no. From what Grady explained to me, the SAS forces there aren't going to fight us - the Collective forces are still a threat. Basically, our job is now a lot easier."

"Are they going to help?" Kathryn asked, idly handling her Alloy Cannon.

"Yes – kind of," Sahra said. "They have some influence over the forces there, so they're going to call them to assemble. They're going to call the Vitakara to one place, force them to stand down, and call the \ Muton units to various places and gun them down. Once we're on-site, we let Grady know, he lets the SAS commander know, the city goes dark, we help take out the Sectopods, secure the Gateways, and mop up anything else."

"Right," Bryanna said, her voice skeptical. "And how do we know this isn't a trap?"

"Worst case?" Sahra shrugged. "Original plans still apply. Grady seems to believe him, and I don't think he'd intentionally risk us like this. Anyone have any questions before we go out?"

None of us shook their heads. Despite this very odd turn of events, we'd hashed out the planning hours ago, and gone over everything important. It was time to actually do the mission – though it was now going to be a unique mission, with this strange development. Fighting _alongside_ the SAS – defectors they may be – was going to be very odd.

They were still traitors. I'd do my best to keep an eye on them. If they turned on us, I'd put them in the ground.

Sahra nodded to Kunio. "Take us over."

A second later, a purple portal appeared in front of him, which he walked into.

 _Hope this works out._ I followed the rest of the team in, and we found ourselves right in front of the city.

_Alright. Nice work buddy._

"Admiral, this is Caesar-1," Sahra said. "We're on-site, and ready to move in."

" _Roger that, Caesar Squad,"_ Admiral Grady replied through the comms. " _Will communicate to our mutual SAS contact. My fleet is standing by to provide fire support for the Sectopods."_

"Will do, moving in now," We moved under the cover of darkness, ready for anything.

"Conley, let us know if we're coming up on any alien patrols," Sahra said as they followed the streets on the path to where the Gateways were. "No attacks – not yet, just let us know."

I nodded. "Got it."

I immediately began scanning the area around us for enemies. I almost immediately picked up a squad of Mutons ahead.

_Just like the simulations._

"Mutons, coming up the street."

"Any others nearby?"

"No, not immediately close by."

My heart's pace quickened as we continued moving. For a stealth mission, it certainly gave me a feeling of tension. One slip-up could send this whole mission sideways.

Only thing worse than that happening was if the nuke Song was carrying blew up. A dead XCOM squad and an irradiated city would be of no use to XCOM.

_The nuke's not gonna misfire, Dawn. Worry about yourself, not the weapon of mass destruction._

Hank clutched his autocannon tightly. "We going to jump them?"

Sahra responded, turning to me. "Not necessary. Can you take them out quickly?"

"I...yes sir."

"Do it, no reason to go loud if we don't need to."

I took a deep breath. "Ok. Give me a moment."

I focused on their simple minds, taking them over with ease, sending a single thought to their minds.

_Die._

They obeyed, and collapsed onto the street.

I felt a pat on my shoulder. It was Kathryn. "Good job."

My first true kills. I'd really done it. So...simple. And quick. "Thanks."

Sahra motioned for us to continue. "We'll celebrate your first combat kills back at base. Grady, when is the city supposed to go dark?"

" _Any moment._ "

We were a little over a third of the way to the Gateways when the whole city went dark, throwing the already dim-lit city into pitch darkness. We had night vision and my telepathy, so visibility wouldn't be an issue. At least the enemy wouldn't be able to call for help.

The stillness was broken with the sounds of explosions and impacts from the Admiral's fleet as streaks of light flew through the night sky and into various ground targets.

A few minutes later, gunfire and explosions were popping up all around us and in the distance, some closer than I'd like.

Hank scoffed. "Looks like the SAS commander is legit. Honestly kind of surprised."

Sahra agreed. "Makes our job easier. Let's keep going- and give some help if any of them are on our path."

We continued moving through the streets. I immediately picked up several civilians in the streets who had _definitely_ seen us.

"I've got some civvies. They have visual on us."

"Knock them out. We don't want any potential liabilities."

"On it, Overseer."

I got into their heads, giving them an easy command - _sleep._

_You saw nothing. Relax. Lie down and sleep._

I felt their minds obey my commands. As they fell asleep, I detected another Muton patrol, which I immediately killed with a thought.

Killing _did_ feel easier once in combat. Huh. Just had to go with the flow, and focus.

"Good work, Dawn. We're almost there."

We turned a corner, heading into the city center. It was being guarded by a Sectopod and some Mutons. _Damn, those things are big once you see them for real. Pretty damn intimidating, too._ We all took cover, while Sahra radioed the Admiral for fire support. While she was doing that, Bryanna and Yong-Ja pulled out a laser targeter and aimed it at the Sectopod.

Once Sahra rattled off the coordinates, we waited for the barrage. After a minute passed by with nothing, I turned to look at Sahra.

"When's that strike c-"

There was a loud shriek, and the entire block exploded, the shockwave knocking me over. I clamped my hands over my ears, trying to suppress the ridiculously loud barrage.

When the dust settled, I looked up, and nothing was left. The Sectopod had been totally flattened, and the few Mutons had been turned to ash.

Hank muttered, taking a look at the cratered city center. "Wish we had that on a few missions. Think XCOM could look into fielding a navy?"

I could tell Sahra was rolling her eyes behind her helmet. "Take it up with the Commander," she said before she spoke over the comms. "Assistance appreciated, Admiral."

" _Of course, Overseer."_

We reached the port containing the Gateways soon after, straight into a firefight between the 'friendly' SAS forces and a horde of Mutons, backed up by multiple Sectopods. Luckily, the Gateways were intact.

_Your first real firefight, Dawn. Keep your cool. Just kill shit and don't shoot the allies._

"Engage!"

At the Overseer's command, we entered the fray. I threw a Thought Bomb into a squad of Mutons, killing them instantly. I heard Hank yelling something about the high ground to Kunio.

_A meme in the middle of a firefight? Seriously?_

_Ah, never mind. Focus on killing things._

As I picked off targets with my psi rifle, I focused on a particular Muton hiding behind a crate. I got into his mind, seizing control of the body.

_Kill your comrades, whatever it takes. Do it._

He obeyed, throwing a plasma grenade into a crowd of Mutons, killing them. Kunio oh-so-helpfully summoned a portal next to me, which transported me to the top of a nearby cargo container, giving the SAS forces cover.

"We going to get more artillery support?" Bryanna called as she wounded a Muton, which was dragged into cover by several of the aliens, who returned with suppressive fire. I immediately killed them with a telepathic attack.

"Too close!" Sahra said, sniping and taking out another Muton.

"Let me try something!" Kunio said, not sure it was going to work, but thinking there wouldn't be a better time to try it. "Cover fire! And distract the Sectopod."

"Hank! Focus on the Sectopod. Kunio, make it fast!"

_What are you going to…_

I blinked, realizing what Kunio was going to do. His tone said it all.

_Oh Kunio, you wily little-_

I watched with one eye as Kunio extended a hand towards the Sectopod, opening a huge portal underneath it, transporting it who knows where.

_Slick move, Kunio._

I focused on a grenadier in the back, who had been hitting the SAS soldiers with heavy weaponry.

I wanted to try something. I took cover behind a box, and focused on him.

_Get in his head._

_That's it...into his mind. Deeper, deeper._

I heard the Overseer call my name over the radio. "Dawn, what are you doing? Why have you stopped shooting?"

I gritted my teeth, knowing I couldn't respond to her calls. I was too deep in, too focused on the target. I felt myself penetrate the Muton's deeper layers. He was mine now, ceasing his shooting. But I went further down.

_C'mon, where is the layer?_

_Ah, there you are._

I felt the deep layer as I slowly bent it to my will.

_It's like the bricks. Just...hold them together._

I felt a plasma shot slam into my metal cover, wincing as it almost hit me.

_C'mon._

I felt the cells' resistance in his head break down, mobilizing and straightening out like new recruits in front of a drill sergeant. The ever-increasing gunfire threatened to break my concentration, but I clenched my teeth, blocking it all out.

I grinned. I had full control now.

_You're mine._

_Aaaand pull._

_**Snap.** _

The Muton's head melted, killing it after a minute of focus.

"Dawn, what did you...oh."

"Target down, Overseer."

She coughed. "Uh, nice work Dawn. Move to the Gateways!"

I followed the Overseer's order, leaping off the container and onto the ground, killing several more Mutons with a telepathic attack. We rushed forward, the SAS soldiers letting us through.

 _Don't try anything, seriously._ I monitored their minds just in case they tried to pull anything.

_A real XCOM squad._

_They wiped the aliens out like they were nothing. They could easily do the same to us._

_Did that one just use a portal?_

_Did that Muton's head over there just melt?_

I ignored that last thought, remaining outside while the engineers went in to send off the nuke. The enemy forces were basically wiped out, with only a few Muton stragglers left. I took care of them with a few thoughts, clearing the area.

I lowered my gun, panting as the last Muton slumped over and died. Killing and fighting in the Dreamscape was...similar to this, as a matter of fact, it felt almost the same.

_Almost._

Here, it felt like there were stakes. No respawn, no knowledge that, in the end, it was all fake, and you could redo it. At the same time, it made you feel like you were actually having an impact, accomplishing a real objective that did something for the war effort, no matter how small.

In the Dreamscape, the objectives and the goals, at the end of the day, were all simulations, but, here, each enemy you killed meant something, every target you captured or killed was one more step, no matter how small, to winning. It had an _effect_ , for real, which made it all the more satisfying. The fighting felt... oddly thrilling - it kept me on my toes more than I'd thought it would. Yet, at the same time, there was a sense of thrill to it. The rush, the action, the constant need to be alert, it felt oddly energizing.

I turned my head, watching the engineers and Kunio come out from the Gateway room. By the looks of it, it seemed like they pulled it off.

_Wonder where that bomb went._

Yong-Ja whooped, and gave Bryanna a high five.

"Great job," Kunio told them.

Bryanna patted him on the shoulder. "And you did good too, you stood there perfectly,"

Kunio shook his head. "How did you justify the connection?"

"Materials transfer."

I snorted. Very funny.

Sahra interrupted our banter with a raised hand. "Alright team, we have one Sectopod left to go before the mission's over. Follow me. Engineers, you did great. Kunio, good work on that Sectopod. Dawn, you're doing well, keep it up. Nice work with your biopathy back there. We're almost there."

_Awww, thanks._

I nodded, following the team to our last target, which was a Sectopod in a nearby park. Thankfully, the Mutons in the port had been the last foot soldiers in the area. I used a nearby car for cover, myself and Hank shooting at it, while the Overseer called in its coordinates and the Engineers used the designator.

Same time as before, the Sectopod was blown apart, ending our op with a nice fireworks show.

"Mission completed. Good work, Caesar Team."

I breathed a sigh of relief as the Overseer's words came over the radio.

_Your first mission._

_You did it. And you even used your biopathy!_

_Damn._

Kunio walked over to me. "You alright, Dawn?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It's over. Kinda felt like it just started, actually."

"Yeah, that tends to happen." He patted me on the shoulder. "You see? I told you you could do it."

"I did do it."

"Damn right you did. C'mon, let's head back to the Praesidium. You've earned it."

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_7/1/17 - 12:10 AM_

When I got out of my armor and received my congratulations from the rest of the team, the rest of my barracks was asleep. I had to tiptoe through the darkness while everyone else was sleeping, trying very hard not to wake anyone. I got in the shower, hoping no one would hear it.

The blast of warm water on my face got me out of the post-mission daze. I blinked rapidly.

_Focus. Just a little more, then you can go to sleep._

As I scrubbed myself clean of sweat, I leaned my head against the shower wall, letting my hair flow free as the water ran down my back.

_Holy shit._

_You really did it._

_You went on a mission._

_You killed people._

_You used your biopathy._

_And no one died or got hurt. Well, no one on our side anyway._

Felt like a dream, and yet it really did happen.

_You did great, Dawn._

But I knew not all missions were going to be like that. Sooner or later, I'd go on an op that would go sideways, or go into a battle on the scale of Florida, Sherman, or even a hellscape like Beijing.

I might have to go up against an Ethereal.

Or an Avatar.

Or a Bringer thing.

Or a...whatever those New York people were.

But not today, because right now, the only two things on my mind were a hot shower and a nice, long sleep.

As I was drying myself off, my phone buzzed.

Fuck, my parents. I picked up the phone, sending them a quick text.

[ _Back from my mission. Nothing's broken. XCOM should send you the report soon. Love you._ ]

I got dressed, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. I threw my dirty clothes in the laundry, getting the last drops of water out of my hair. I shivered slightly as my uncovered feet padded across the cold, grey bathroom floor. It was almost eerie how quiet the barracks were- at almost any time of day, you'd have soldiers coming in, cleaning themselves, changing clothes, making their beds, what have you.

I walked to bed, making sure not to disturb my fellow soldiers. I slipped under the covers, staring at the ceiling, my head sinking into the pillow, taking in the smell of soap and wet hair as I breathed in and out, relaxing.

_You're a real soldier now, Dawn._

_You did good today. Really good._

_Feel proud of it._

And I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_7/2/17 - 6:25 AM_

I woke up, rubbing my eyes and groaning.

"Dawn? That you?"

I looked at the bottom bunk, right into Lian's face.

"Hey Lian. I'm back."

She looked at me with a confused look. "I didn't see you come back last night."

"It was late. You guys were asleep. Didn't want to wake you all up."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. Hey, how'd it go?"

"It went great, actually! Nothing went wrong, no one got killed, and I got my first real kills."

She patted me on the shoulder. "Congrats! I'm proud of you. You feel alright?"

"Yeah. Be lying if I didn't feel a little anxious about it, but I'm good." I hopped onto the floor, grabbing my uniform.

"Well, good job Dawn. I'm proud of you."

I nodded, smiling at her as I walked off for my morning routine, running into my Templar friend.

She grinned at me, arms outstretched. "Look who's back from her first mission!"

I accepted her hug. "Ah, thanks."

"I knew you could do it."

I scratched my hair, ruffled by the helmet and a late-night sleep. I looked _messy_. "I know. Hard to believe that a month I used to be that kid crying under the covers, huh?"

She shrugged. "So, how was it?"

"Not bad. I killed things, used my psionics. Flowed like a Dreamscape sim, with real stakes of course. Oh yeah, get this."

"What?"

"What if I told you that the SAS in the area actually surrendered, and fought with us?"

That turned some heads nearby.

"You shitting me?" Her Norwegian accent kicked in as she muttered something under her breath. When she looked at my very serious face, she shook her head. "You're not."

"Nope. Believe me, the team was as surprised as you are."

Firsova, a burly Russian woman with blonde hair, entered the conversation."What caused it, do you know? Far as I'm concerned, I've never seen that happening before."

I shrugged. "Admiral Grady convinced them to surrender. They were helpful, though. Helped drive the enemies into killzones, and even captured quite a few Vitakara alive."

"Sounds like you got lucky."

I snorted. "Beginner's luck, maybe. I gotta go shower. I'll keep you guys posted if anything happens. Thanks."

As I walked away from them, I couldn't help but feel proud. I felt like I could relate to them on a closer, more personal level. I'd had my trial by fire, just like the rest of them, and passed it with flying colors. I'd gone into battle, just like them, killed the enemy, just like them, and came out alive, just like them.

After finishing my morning routine and putting on my uniform, I headed to breakfast, where I noticed Sahra and the rest of the team waving me over. I sat down right in the middle of the group, where they'd left a seat open for me. I sat down with my tray, and they all raised their glasses.

Kunio grinned. "Cheers to Dawn, our resident biopath, for getting her first kills in battle!"

I raised my glass, clinking as we all toasted to my first mission. My glass was one of the only ones not with alcohol in it, but I didn't care. "Cheers!"

"How're you feeling, Dawn?"

"Pretty good, Sahra. I'm feeling great about myself. I did pretty well - you guys did too, though, Sahra, I think you did really well for your first time leading a squad. "

I think she almost blushed. "Thanks, Dawn."

I turned to my resident teleporting friend. "Kunio, nice trick with the Sectopod. Looks like Fiona's training paid off, eh?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Dawn. I saw you use your biopathy on that Muton."

"Ah, you saw my signature move," I smirked. "It's a bit messy, but it gets the job done."

Bryanna's face morphed into a confused expression. "I've seen biopathy in the vids, but seeing in real life..it's kinda nasty. Not that I'm insulting you or anything, but it makes your skin crawl."

"Oh, no worries, I get it. The first few times I did it, I either had a panic attack or lost my breakfast, lunch, and dinner all in one go. I was pretty much the bane of my facility's janitorial crew. Wasn't fun."

"If you don't mind me asking, how exactly does one get used to watching someone literally _melt_ in front of them?"

I shrugged. "You get used to it. After you do it a lot, the revulsion towards it is just...nullified. Desensitized, even. I don't use it liberally, and for most of the time I'm probably going to use my normal telepathy anyway. I know it sounds morbid, but, in my case it's just something you get used to. It becomes routine after a while."

The rest of them nodded at me, listening to what I had to say, but something felt off. Behind those smiles, it felt like there was this slight feeling of glumness, as I talked about bending life's most basic components to will.

Contrary to what I wanted to believe, I wasn't really a teenager anymore. At best, I was a soldier in a teenager's body.

Teenagers didn't brag about liquefying people. Teenagers didn't celebrate deadly missions where you risked your life. Teenagers didn't worry about their friends coming home to them in a body bag, if they were lucky. Teenagers didn't have to face the grim reality of warfare, knowing that any day could be your last.

As much as I wanted to connect with my graduating class again, I knew in the back of my head that, if they ever did see me again, they would have a very hard time recognizing me. Sure, I looked similar, but, inside, I was almost completely different. I may have still had my humor, my tendency to make terrible puns, and the ability to put on a good smile. But one could easily tell I'd changed.

_This is who I am now._

_You're not in high school anymore._

Hank chose to break the silence. "If you don't mind me asking, what's it been like being here? I can't imagine many people your age would choose to come here."

"Everyone here's been really nice to me. I mean, yeah, there's a big age and maturity gap, but, other than that, I just do what's expected of me here. No real reason to step out of line and do something immature." _Like covering the principal's office in bubble wrap for senior prank day. Fuck you, Mr Jenkins, and your stupid bra strap rule._

"I get that. I don't think any soldiers here would appreciate someone immature in their ranks."

"Right, but I can still find moments here when I can have fun and feel like my old self again. Playing video games, swimming, things like that. Overall, it's been really something. I'm not sure how to say it, but, for the first time in my life, I feel _important_. I feel like I'm actually making an impact, a difference."

I looked at my hands, at the hexagons that painted my peach skin. "For a long time, I felt that something was missing from me, like a puzzle piece that was lost. I always wanted to go to college and have a life, but I felt like...like something was _off_. And then this war hits, and it turns out I'm a powerful psion. And now I'm here, living a young adult fantasy's wet dream in real life. It sounds so cliche and dramatic, but honestly? I kind of feel like I was made for this. It just feels natural to me now. I never saw myself doing something like this, but I'm not complaining."

Sahra nodded. "I get how you feel. I joined the military straight out of high school and fit right in. Learned a lot from it, but it's definitely not for everyone."

"True. I guess part of me regrets not going to college, but, hey, what's the point of getting a degree if we lose, right? And, besides, I feel like I'm putting myself to good use. Don't see anywhere else where I could do this and apply myself like this."

"Well, that's good. Just be ready for anything. There's a chance your next mission might not go as well as this one."

"That's what the Dreamscape's for. I'm definitely going to be upping the ante in the sims, now that I have some experience."

"Just don't get cocky. Just because you've done one op doesn't mean you're a badass yet. There's still a lot to be done here."

I snorted. "As if I was. I think I've got a ways to go before I can call myself that."

We finished our breakfast, and we parted ways. As I walked out of the Mess Hall, Kunio pulled me aside.

"You feeling alright?"

I smiled. "Yeah. I'm feeling good - real good."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

I shook my head. "No. Didn't really have any qualms about the killing or anything like that. I-"

My phone buzzed. "Excuse me for a sec."

It was my parents.

_[Dawn,_

_We've thought about it, and were stuck on the decision until we saw your mission report. Although we are still concerned about your safety, it's become clear to the both of us that this is something you are fully committed to. For that reason, we've decided to move into the family section of the Praesidium. We'll be there tomorrow, around 3:00 PM._

_We're sorry that our initial reactions to your choice hurt you. We should have put more thought into supporting you, and we hope that we can prove to you that we still care and love you.]_

My jaw dropped.

They did it.

They actually did it.

I sighed, putting my phone away.

"My parents. They decided to come."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I know. Um, listen. After they get settled in and all, you wouldn't mind meeting them?"

He shook his head. "No. Not at all. Do you need me to come with you?"

"No. I need to do this myself."

* * *

_Family Section, Praesidium_

_7/3/17 - 3:00 PM_

I stood anxiously next to the Gateway, twiddling my fingers.

But I wasn't alone.

Grace was next to me, arm on my shoulder.

"You ready, sis?"

 _Of course I am._ She simply chuckled. I'd been sending her telepathic messages every so often, something she found to be funny.

"Yeah. Just haven't seen them in person in a while. And they haven't seen me like _this_ in person."

"They're not going to judge you."

"I know. But I don't know how they'll react. Seeing what I've done. Who I am."

She reached out and hugged me. "It's going to be alright. You're still the Dawn that I know and love." She ran a finger through my hair. "Just a little different, that's all."

_Just a little different._

_That's all._

The Gateway turned on, an officer hitting several buttons on the panel.

"Gateway active. Transport imminent."

And then, they appeared.

My mom, in a gray t-shirt and jeans. My dad, in a button-down shirt and jeans, wearing glasses and sporting a salt-and-pepper beard. They both had two suitcases with them. They thanked the officer, nodding at him.

And then they turned and saw me, in my boots and fatigues.

"Hey, Dad, Mom. How's it going?"

My mom stared at me, eyeing her daughter.

"You look different." She squeaked out. "And your eyes are...yellow."

"Well, genetic augmentations are a helluva drug. I-"

My dad rushed forward into a hug, wrapping his arms around me.

"I missed you, Dawn. I missed you baby. I'm sorry we didn't come sooner. I'm sorry I-"

I wrapped my arms around him. "Hey Dad. I missed you too."

"Oof. You're strong."

"As I said - augmentations."

"They look really cool! I mean, wow! Your eyes!" He looked at my eyes with great interest.

"Cool, right?"

"Yeah! I gotta say-"

_This is cool too._

My parents both froze as my eyes glowed purple, confused as to what just happened. My mom was the first to speak up.

"Was that telepathy?"

I nodded proudly. "I've had some good teachers."

"Wow I mean- that's really something. I'd never-" My dad set the luggage down. "I'm sorry, Dawn. It's just-"

"I know it's a lot to get used to. Trust me, my first few days here were difficult too, but there are people here whose families have been here for a while. They're going to help you adjust, okay? And don't worry, I'll be visiting you guys a lot. Hey, I might even bring some friends."

"I don't suppose we could meet some of your teachers."

I grinned. "Well, one of them has four arms and is over a thousand years old, another is a...let's say _interesting_ chemistry teacher with the highest human Trask Level ever recorded, and the third is a large, white, fuzzy alien bear that likes to shoot guns and have snowball fights. Take your pick."

I watched as my parents' eyes went wide. I turned to Grace.

_Did I scare them too much?_

She shook her head. I turned back to them. "Here, I've got some time. How about I help you guys with your luggage. Let's talk on the way."

With one hand, I grabbed their largest suitcase, throwing it over my shoulder.

The last time I saw them, I had trouble doing several pullups.

How things have changed.

My dad shook his head grinning. He turned to Grace. "Hello, honey. It's...been a while."

"It has. I missed you two."

My mom walked up to me, hands together.

She sighed, shifting her feet. "Dawn. Grace. I just want to say to the both of you that I'm sorry. I wasn't there for you two when you needed me too, like a good parent should." She looked down at the floor. "I should have been supporting you, been more kind. But I wasn't. And, for that, I'm sorry. I hope the both can forgive me for how I acted."

I looked into her eyes. I didn't need telepathy to tell that she was telling the truth. I turned to look at my dad, anxiously watching mom and I talk.

My dad looked back at me. "I know that the way I acted back when you first signed up to join XCOM was unnecessarily childish. I shouldn't have done that during such a stressful moment for you. There's no excuse for my radio silence, or your mother's. And for that, I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, guys. I appreciate it." I put the bag down, hugging both of them again. "Now, how about that tour?"

"Sure thing."

I picked up the bag. "And Mom? Dad?"

"Yes?"

"It's good to have the family back together. I really can't wait to show you guys around."

Grace took them to their room, which was right across the hall from hers. As we were unpacking, the door opened.

"Excuse me?"

I turned around, my heart jumping as I saw Creed standing at the door.

"Sir. I was just-"

"It's fine, Dawn. It'll only take a minute." He turned towards my family. "I hate to interrupt here, but I have to borrow your daughter for a second."

My Dad and Mom looked at each other.

"Guys, it's fine." I walked over to Creed, who led me into an adjacent hallway.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Dawn. But this is important."

"Is it another mission, sir?"

He pursed his lips. "Yes, but it's not going to be a standard mission."

I nodded. "What are the parameters?"

"We are having Caelior bring down the Hiveship over Turkey. Considering the mission in question, and your friendship with him, we believe that you should accompany him on this mission."

My jaw dropped. " _What?_ "

"The Internal Council has decided that Caelior is going to be our best bet for taking down the Hiveship. I want to stress that you're accompanying some of our best psions and Aegis. ADVENT will also be there, preparing to assault the Hiveship."

I pointed to myself. My heart was pounding, and I felt myself shaking. "So-so you want me to do what exactly? I can't take on a Hive Commander if he decides to attack us."

"You won't be alone, and we're not expecting you to be the focal point of this assault. The reason we want you on it is because you're the one who is friends with Caelior." He set a tablet in his hand on the floor, putting a hand on my left shoulder. "He trusts you - You're both youth who've had to make hard decisions in hard times, and you've done well so far."

I looked down at the floor. "Hey," he said in a quiet voice, causing me to look up. "I think you can do this. Caelior's going to need all the help he can get while doing this. That is all we want you for. Support Caelior, and we and ADVENT will finish the job."

"The Commander trusts me that much to do this?"

"He does. Why wouldn't he?"

I considered what Creed had said.

Caelior was my friend. A _good_ one. No, a _close_ one.

This would be an opportunity like no other to prove to him that I reciprocated that trust back to him. This would, no doubt, be one of his greatest achievements.

And aren't achievements sweeter when your friends help you out?

After all, that's what friends are for. The ones you come to for support. The ones that, in times of need, turn to you, knowing they can help.

What kind of friend would I be if I said no?

I breathed out a sigh, my shoulder slumping. My heartbeat began to return to normal as I responded quietly. "I'll do it sir. Whatever it takes."

"Alright." He smiled. "Thank you, Dawn. I'll let the Commander know. I'll send you more details later. Take care."

As he walked off, I balled my fists, closing my eyes.

_Breathe, Dawn._

_Just breathe._

I opened my eyes, walking back into my parent's room.

"What was that all about?"

"I've got a new mission, Dad. Won't happen until a bit later, but...it's really something."

My family's collectively raised eyebrow said it all. I chuckled.

"We can talk about it after it's happened."

Something told me even they wouldn't believe how insane it sounded.

But, as they say in the barracks, that's XCOM, baby.

* * *

_Turkey_

_7/15/17 - 12:14 PM_

This was it.

I, Dawn Conley, was going to help take down a _motherfucking Hiveship_.

Well, Caelior and Aegis were going to help with the grunt work. I was going to provide telepathic support at best, augment Caelior's focus and concentration, as well as work with the overall _tugging_ of the Hiveship.

"Are you okay?"

Caelior was sitting next to me in the Skyranger as it neared our destination. It was cramped, Aegis was sitting across from me, the rest of the seats packed with various soldiers, most of them human, with a few aliens here and there. Carreria was participating in this op, but she was on another Skyranger, her hulking form only one-upped by Xarian. A small part of me was disappointed I wouldn't be involved in the actual taking of the Hiveship itself, but I knew I wasn't ready for combat like that just yet.

But _this?_ This would be _nothing_ like the sims.

"Yeah. Just can't believe we're actually going through with this."

"Rest assured, Dawn, that I can do this. I am eternally thankful you came along to help me."

"I'm your friend, Caelior. Of course I'm gonna help. Besides, who else can say they helped take down a Hiveship?"

A low rumble emerged from his helmet, the Ethereal version of a chuckle. "Indeed."

"I'll do my best to support you. I don't have much experience with Ethereal minds. I don't want to mess anything up.

He placed a hand on mine. "You will be fine. Although our brains are different, telepathy will still work. Just help me channel my focus."

"Will do, buddy."

If this worked, it'd be some good news to give to the people. The Battlemaster and his little pet were hitting Ukraine hard, Patricia was getting closer and closer to Seoul, and the Second Guardian was winning in Salt Lake.

If we were going to make a move, now was the time.

The light flashed green inside the bay as the Skyranger landed. Aegis and Caelior departed first, while the remaining human members of the team followed them, standing tall as the ADVENT soldiers gawked at us. I could feel their minds, their thoughts. To them, we were like superheroes, something more than human. Those who inspired hope in our allies, and fear in our enemies.

_These are the people you have to protect, Dawn. The people who you're fighting for._

_Don't forget that._

As we moved, I felt a psion on the edge of my mind, probing me ever so slightly.

_Hello there._

I turned my head, looking around to see who'd done it. I picked out a woman in the crowd in PRIEST gear, a telepath, staring right at me. We stared at one another through our helmets for a moment. I could sense many emotions in her mind. Regret. Pain. Loss.

But there was something else in there, too.

I could feel it not just in her, but the crowd.

A sense of anticipation, hope.

I turned away from her, following our two Ethereals to the designated point. I saw PRIESTs fanning out around us, preparing for possibly one of the most audacious, if not legendary, stunts we'd ever pulled.

Caelior lifted us to the top of a building, where we could get a better view of the Hiveship. It was only a small black speck in the sky, but we could see it, nonetheless.

 _It is time to begin_ , Aegis telepathically communicated to us.

_Okay Dawn._

_This is it._

_Do your thing._

I got down on my knees, my left hand flaring with psionic power as I felt Caelior's mind.

With a deep breath, I dived inside. I felt the air around us change, feeling it almost...stiffen. It became more staticy - I felt like I was underwater.

No matter.

_Alright Caelior, let's do it._

**On it.**

I focused on his thoughts, feeling the Ethereal mind. Unlike a human, it was more complex, and with their natural psionic aptitude, things felt more cloudy. My grip on his mind increased, a single word transmitting from my brain to his, as our minds began to link.

_Focus._

I felt his grip on the Hiveship strengthen as it slowly began to bend to the combined power of human and Ethereal psionics. The doubt in his mind began to rest as his resolve strengthened, his will steadfast.

_That's it._

A part of me wished I could watch with my own eyes, but my helmet cam would record it for later.

My fists balled, the noise outside dimming as I focused more and more on his mind.

_I am here for you. Always._

_I will not abandon you like the Collective did. I will not see you as a tool like the foolish Empire, not use you like the Maelstroms._

The outside shell of the ship began to rattle, the ship angling downwards as it began to bend to his will.

_We will take them down together._

The metal structure of the ship began to screech as his grip...no, _our_ grip, tightened. I could not only feel him, but every other participating psion, pull on the Hiveship.

_You are free from them, free from their lies. And now they'll pay for doing so, all of them._

I felt the ground rumble. The Hiveship was attacking! Shit-

**Focus.**

Caelior's voice reverberated inside my mind.

**They will not hurt you. Aegis will see to that.**

I felt his mind tug at mine, as if he was pulling me closer.

**Keep going. We are close.**

" _We are close."_

" **I can do it."**

" _You can do it."_

The mental bonds tightened.

" _ **We are close."**_

I gasped as, for only a moment, we spoke together, like a chorus singing a verse, two voices united.

I grinned.

He grinned.

I tightened my fists, raising them as he did.

_**Pull.** _

The sounds of explosions and the rumbles of projectiles hitting Aegis' shield were null to me, as my mind was only focused on Caelior. I could tell the ship was getting closer and closer by the second.

_Become the hurricane you were always meant to be._

I felt a telekinetic field strengthening around me, from Caelior.

_What-_

I realized what it was a second later, as the ground shook like a massive earthquake had just hit, almost knocking me onto the floor, if not for the telekinetic field that held me up.

_Caelior, we did it! We did-_

The connection between us ceased as I felt his body hit the ground next to me, the telepathic blowback hitting me.

I fell to the ground as the connection broke down. I opened my eyes, staring at the downed Hiveship off in the distant desert, far away from where it could've fallen on any of us.

We had done it.

We'd really done it.

I smiled like a kid on Christmas, in awe at what we'd just pulled off.

"Another...happy...landing…"

And then I fell to the ground, passing out.

* * *

To be continued in:

**Two Sides of the Same Coin**


	14. Two Sides of the Same Coin

_Praesidium_

_7/16/17 - 12:15 AM_

I opened my eyes, blinking as they focused on the neon lights on the ceiling.

"She's awake!"

I groaned, rubbing my head as I tried to sit up. My head pounded like a drum.

_Goddamn…_

"Baby?"

My mom stared at me from across the room; she looked worried sick.

"W-where am I?"

"They sent you back after Turkey. All three of us saw the footage, hon. I...I don't know what to say. Whatever you did with that Ethereal, it knocked you out!"

"That you're proud of me?" I said in a deadpan expression. "Mom, I wasn't in any danger. I had Aegis and Caelior with me. And where's Dad?"

"Your dad's getting to know our neighbors, and your sister is with some other teens here. I'll let them know you're awake." As she reached for her phone, she paused. "Do you know a Japanese man named Kunio, by any chance? He seemed to know you very well."

"Yeah?"

"He stopped by to see if you were okay." _Fuck._ I'd talk to him later, see what I missed.

"Don't worry about him, mom. He's a good friend. Helped me get used to XCOM, and we do sims together all the time. He's not a creep or anything."

"I didn't mean it like that. He seemed nice."

"He is, Mom. He's one of my best friends here."

"I can tell. He seemed concerned about you."

I widened my eyes. I'd rarely ever seen him like that before. "Was he alright?"

"Yes. I told him to come back when you were awake. Is he really a teleporter?"

"Yeah, a good one." I tried to get off the bed, but my wobbly legs got the better of me, almost tripping over myself. My mom helped prop me up, eyeing my hexagonal skin.

I couldn't help but smirk. "Looks pretty neat, huh? Helluva makeover. Can't go wrong with the yellow eyes, either."

"It is. I'm sorry if I'm not being helpful. We're just getting adjusted to all of this and-"

"It's fine." I waved her off. "You'll get used to it, just like I did." I sat back on the bed, closing my eyes, feeling around the environment. I located my dad and sister quickly, sending them a telepathic message.

_I'm awake. Come back to my room._

I opened my eyes, trying to ignore my sore head. "What did they say happened to me?"

"Something about the stress of helping Caelior focus. It knocked you out as soon as the Hiveship fell. Caelior's fine. He's exhausted, but recovering well."

Right then and there, my sister and father burst in. My dad wrapped his arms around in a surprise hug which I quickly accepted, while my sister looked me up and down.

"Honey! You're okay!"

"Yeah, I know. How are things?"

"I...I have so many questions. What was it like, seeing it fall? Are you really friends with that Ethereal? What exactly did you-"

I groaned. "Dad, I know you're curious, but I'll answer anything you have later. Right now, I just need to lie down, okay?" I kissed him on the cheek and scooted myself back onto the bed.

"Is there anything you need?"

"I could use some food. And some sleep."

He nodded. "Anything else?"

I smiled warmly. "No dad, just rest. But thanks."

He got up, patting my shoulder. "Alright. I'll get you some food, honey. I'll be back soon."

I propped up some pillows, leaning against the wall.

_Dammit that hurt._

I took another deep breath, reflecting on what had happened.

_I was in Caelior's mind._

_He-no, we pulled down a Hiveship._

_Well, he did pretty much all of the work. I'll take 0.5 percent of the credit, I guess._

_Guess it is true that teamwork makes the dream work._

_So, the stress of it must've over exhausted him, and the telepathic blowback knocked me out._

_And it really fucking hurt._

I gulped. I needed to check on Caelior. Was he all right? Did he need-

I winced as a sharp pain hit my forehead. _Damn!_

I shook my head. Guess my head wasn't on straight just yet.

_The mental strain of that must've been massive. I must still be feeling the mental recoil. Caelior must be feeling so much worse._

I stared at the ceiling, smiling. Sure, my head hurt like hell, but what I'd done...I just couldn't get over it.

I'd helped take down one of the biggest ships in the known galaxy, but even better, I'd shown a friend I'd never expected to have how much I really cared for him. I'd been there with him as he put on the biggest show of his life, no deception, no bullshit - it was all him.

He'd broken his strings, no longer the puppet - he was his own master now. With our help, he'd become something so much more than those old fucks back in the Empire could've ever imagined.

_How's it feel for a nineteen year old 'primitive' human to help him out more in a month than you did in years?_

And I was so damn proud of him.

I'd felt his thoughts, his mind. I could sense his confidence, his pride. His elation at who he was now, and how much he'd improved. So much had been holding him back - the gaslighting, the manipulation, the lies he and others had told him, his childish arrogance. The hate. The anger. The loss. The regret. The life he never got to have. The screams when he'd gotten the news his parents had died, their planet besieged by a Synthesized fleet, millions of miles away from where he could only watch his home burn through a screen.

In that moment, he felt none of that.

In that moment, he had only felt determination.

And, in a way, he was at peace. A sort of zen-like state in the moment, if you will.

And as he'd pulled it down, as my mind got closer to his, I began to feel those emotions too. I felt...safer being next to him, helping him.

But in that moment, in that temporary bond, if I could even call it that, I felt so much energy. I glimpsed _into_ him, feeling the sheer amount of _power_ he brought to bear - it was almost alluring, like I wanted to reach into it and feel it for myself. The ability to do so much with a single thought, to have such destructive might at such a slight whim.

Is that how the Avatars felt? To be permanently linked to a being of such power that it bordered on overwhelming or even borderline orgasmic, having such power and knowledge flow through you?

It was almost enthralling. But at the same time, it was so much power left unchecked.

I clenched my fists, suppressing the thought.

_That power isn't yours, Dawn. You're not like them. You're a human, and it's not yours. You're a telepath - you kill with the mind, not brute force._

I groaned, shaking my head. I needed to rest. And after I did, I needed to talk to Caelior.

I wanted to see how he was doing.

But first, I had to rest.

A few minutes later, the rest of my family walked in, my dad carrying a plate of masala. He looked absolutely ecstatic.

_Damn, the chefs do good work._

"You're awake!" He handed me the plate. "How do you feel?"

I groaned. "Not that good. Turns out linking yourself to an Ethereal to pull one of the biggest ships in the galaxy hurts like hell." I shook my head, getting my hair out of my eyes. "But we got that sucker down."

"We saw the footage." My sister gulped. "It was...sis, that was intense."

I could see the worried looks on their faces. I was alive, sure, but that'd been the most telepathically exhausting thing I'd ever done. Besides, if it weren't for Aegis, I'd be toast.

"Yeah, it was." I smiled. "But I had a lot of help."

"Aegis trains you, right?"

"Yep. Defensive telepathy, mainly. He looks intimidating, but when you get to know him, he's a nice guy."

_Minus the vomiting in the helmet part. Or the nearly dying from telepathic attacks. But who's counting?_

Mom nodded. "I see. And the other Ethereal, Caelior? You're _friends_ with him?"

"Yeah. He's a teenager too. In Ethereal years, but yeah. We get along great. He's one of my best friends here beside Kunio."

"But didn't he throw that carrier? And crush all of those people?"

I took a bite of the food, blinking. "Yeah, he did. And he's not proud of it."

"How so?"

"It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you later. But what I can say is that he's different. He's learned from his mistakes, and considering he works for people who actually _care_ about him, he's doing all he can to make up for them. And, in person, he's a very nice person. He's kind of like me, in a lot of ways. We've been hanging out for over a month. He's a really good friend to me. We've learned a lot from each other." I paused, looking at my parents' intrigued expressions. "You guys want to meet him?"

My mom held up a finger. "I thought we were going to meet your Borealian friend first. Car-something?"

"Carreria." Grace interjected. "Very nice person."

 _Thanks, Grace._ "But she's fighting in the Hiveship right now, so if you want to meet an alien friend of mine, Caelior's your only option." I forced an awkward smile. "Sorry."

"Do you want us to meet him?" My mom put a hand on my shoulder. I could tell she was nervous- you didn't need to be a telepath to notice that. I knew why. Changing the alien introduction from a Borelian to an Ethereal was radical, to say the least.

"If you don't feel comfortable…"

My mom looked at me. "Do you trust him?"

"Well, I trusted him enough to have him trust me to help him take down the Hiveship." I gulped. "I guess. But only when he gets better, and if he agrees to it. He's very exhausted right now. I want to give him some time to rest before you talk to him, okay?"

"That sounds fine."

I looked around the room. "Everyone okay with that?"

Grace and my dad nodded with a hint of fear on my dad's face. Again, you didn't need to be a telepath to tell that. Noticing my look of slight concern, he spoke up.

"I...think your mother bought something from home for you."

My mom's eyes widened.

"Oh my god! I did. How did I forget! I..." She got up from her seat, walking to the closet, and grabbing a cardboard package, giving it to me warmly smiling. "Might make the barracks feel a bit more homey."

"Thanks, Mom." I opened it. Damn, she'd done well. A clone minifigure, a Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought figure, a few photos from high school, and a t-shirt or two. My eyes widened, pulling out an orange t-shirt with a pegasus on it.

"Oh shit, I remember this one!"

She giggled. "From the summer camp you went to last summer? In New York?" I nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! From...well, before." I stared at it for a moment. How much things had changed since then. I shook my head, moving on to the next item. When I picked up the framed photo, I stopped, letting out a small gasp.

It was a pretty innocent photo- 5-year old me, sitting in my bedroom, holding a Barbie in one hand and a pudding-filled spoon in the other, chocolate pudding all over my face. I had a huge smile on my face, caring about nothing but my mom's smile behind the camera.

_Awww._

I smile. "It's cute. I was a messy kid, wasn't I?"

My mom shook her head. "You were five! You didn't know any better!"

Grace piped in. "Hey, _you_ were the messy one. I was the bookworm."

I turned to my sister. "Remember how I used to steal your books and hide them? Then you'd get so mad at me?"

She snorted. "Yeah. You were a real criminal back then, Dawn."

I folded the picture back up, putting it in my pocket. "You think she'd be proud of me?"

"Hmmm?"

"Little me. Do you think she'd like me? Who I am now?"

"You know what I'd think? I think she'd think you were some kind of superhero."

"Well, she's not exactly wrong, Dad." I looked at my hands. "It's kind of hard to believe that all this time, I had this...power in me." I shook my head. "All those years that I stressed about now knowing what to do with my life, and all it took was an alien invasion, and the genetic lottery." I looked at my sister. "Sorry you didn't get powers either."

"Hey, I'm only a _little_ jealous." She said with a smirk. "I'm good. Besides, if I had what you had, I'd probably do a bunch of stupid shit with it. I'm proud of you, sis."

"Anything else, Mom?"

"I think I have a few more things over here…" She looked at me with a worried expression. "You're not late to anything, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I've got time. What else do you have?"

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_Two Hours Later_

"You feel alright, _gryning?_ "

"Yeah. Thanks, Vih."

She nodded. My Swedish friend, bless her heart, took time out of her day to help me back to the barracks. I could walk okay, but her impromptu telekinetic grip had oh-so-gracefully kept me on balance. I'd eaten with my family, but I was more than eager to get back to soldiering on (quite literally) as usual.

I didn't know why, but there was something almost therapeutic about collapsing into your bunk after some as strenuous as taking down an alien capital ship, sinking into the mattress and relaxing, forgetting for a bit about the pure insanity that occurred on a daily basis.

After she left, I pulled out my computer and headphones, and did what any normal bored teenager would do.

Why, read social media, of course.

Starting with the ones I found most _intriguing_.

Namely, a few Ethereal ones.

Because why not?

And no, not Quisilia. I couldn't bear to keep watching his content after reading his file. I mean, _holy shit_ did that guy have a lot of skeletons in his closet.

If only the past me and friends had known when leaping onto the Quisilia bandwagon when he made his social media debut.

But others were more manageable. Somewhat tolerable, even.

Sana's various postings, for example, were pretty varied, ranging from what to do in a battle as a civilian to how to mediate an argument. It was mostly stuff I already knew, but I still followed her out of pure curiosity. I'd become somewhat familiar with her through reading her papers and watching recordings of her speeches back in the Imperial days. While it'd been helpful with both my telepathy and biopathy, listening to her speak over and over again had gotten a bit irritating. Her voice, while soothing and comforting, felt oddly creepy. It reminded me of those psycho killers from movies who would have 'happy' voices and smile just as they're about to kill you.

But she was still intriguing. Mortis, as far as I knew, had no social media presence, so that was out of the picture. Besides, Sana had unknowingly been teaching me, albeit indirectly with the various studies and records she left behind, of which I'd been basing part of my 'research' off of. As much as I disliked her, I still kept tabs on her occasionally.

But there was another who had my attention; the Imperator's adopted assassin herself, Sicarius - a frequent Reddit user, of all things.

To be fair, the vast majority of people didn't know who Sicarius _was_ , so there was that. But the odd thing was, even though XCOM and ADVENT were definitely tracking her profile, it seemed very...innocent. Even helpful. She usually posted in a number of subreddits dealing with various kinds of trauma and abuse. She seemed to know a _lot_ about this kind of stuff. But judging by her XCOM dossier and what Aegis had told me, what she'd suffered under the Synthesized - and then the Imperator - made the term 'abuse' look like child's play.

She'd lost her entire family and planet when she was a little girl even younger than me; when her age was translated into human years. And as if that wasn't enough, the oh-so-smart Imperator decided that, rather than give her therapy and love, he should instead turn her into a brainwashed hitman, who now had an equally traumatized teenage ex-cartel boyfriend, who had a massive revenge boner against ADVENT, connected to her mind.

Something told me that might not end well.

But her online persona seemed so... _kind_. She spoke like a caring person who genuinely wanted to help people, and did an admittedly damn good job of doing it. She never seemed outright malicious from what I'd seen (as compared to the battlefield footage, go figure), and her advice seemed to have actually improved people who'd taken her advice and gone through with it.

I followed her account out of pure curiosity, and I'd noticed that some of her advice could one day easily apply to me. Who was to say I wouldn't see or experience something traumatic in the field? After all, it had happened to my uncle. It could easily happen to me.

Yet her persona was so _different_ from who she really was. A little girl who had lost everything, only to get rescued by a man who proceeded to fuck her up more than the Synthesized even could, turning her into a fanatically loyal child assassin. I knew that was the point of a persona- to act like someone you weren't. Yet something about it felt off...too off.

Did she not want others to end up like her?

I shook my head. _Ethereals, man. So complex._

Let it be known that Sicarius was a textbook example of how to _not_ put a kid like me into war.

And I hoped with every fiber of my being that I wouldn't end up like her.

I knew XCOM would never treat me like that. I knew that much. I took comfort in the fact that this environment would be the best for me when it came to fighting this war. I took comfort in knowing that the people I worked for actually _cared_ about my well-being; case in point, the amazing therapy sessions and the stellar teachers. And of course, the friends. Looking back, I can't believe I was so afraid that the other soldiers wouldn't like me, or socially reject me. Here in XCOM, friendships and comradery were everything.

I found it hilarious how many misconceptions I'd had before coming here. Sometimes when we were bored, us PRIEST trainees would gather, and talk about the war. We always ended up talking about XCOM - how could we not? The psionics, the weapons, the armor, the legendary augments that made you more than human - what wasn't to love? We'd talk for hours, come up with so many theories, so many _hows_ and _whys_.

But none of them were even close to this.

Because, as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction.

Nobody could've guessed that creatures like T'Leth were actually real. Nobody back there thought that things like biopathy or nanokinesis were possible.

And most of all? Nobody could've predicted that out of all the people on Earth, _I_ would be the first human able to do biopathy. I'd gone from some nobody from Tennessee to one of Earth's mightiest defenders in less than a year.

Funny how your priorities change from applying to college to learning how to use space magic to kill aliens.

But that wasn't all that was on my mind.

We'd really done it - the Hiveship battle had ended, and we'd won. As an added bonus, Aegis had beaten the Second Guardian, and rumor had it she was being transferred to our custody soon. However, I'd also heard Aegis had taken a beating from the Meat Puppets, and was temporarily out of commission.

If I could, I planned to visit him in a few days once I fully recovered. Right now, I had to rest.

On the other hand, Patricia was attacking Seoul, and the Battlemaster was pushing further into the Ukraine.

I wondered whatever happened to that psion I felt before I pulled down the ship. Hopefully she's doing alright.

But what intrigued me most was the opposition ADVENT had encountered recently in Scipio, particularly that man with the hammer. He was...intriguing at the very least. I wondered if-

My phone buzzed. It was Mary.

[ _You free?_ ]

A minute later, her face was on screen.

" _Dawn! It's been a while."_ Something immediately seemed different. She seemed...brighter than usual.

"Mary! How've you been?"

" _Great! I've got some news!'_

"Yeah?"

" _I'm being deployed!"_

I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, really?'

" _Yeah! I passed my final checks and everything! They're sending me to Canada!"_

"Wow! Congrats. How do you feel?"

" _I feel amazing! Well, a little nervous. But I'm not alone. Sam's being deployed with me, too! We're going together!"_

Sam Mortenson was another of my PRIEST friends from way back when. Born and raised in the Big Apple, his parents were killed in the Ravaged One's rampage. He was the only other Leviathan psion at my facility, and a telekine at that. He already had more than enough reasons to fight the Collective, but after Patricia's ill-fated attempt to replicate his attack, he had even more motivation. Couldn't blame him - he had to watch his beloved city and home get destroyed _twice_.

Talk about a twisted sense of deja vu.

"That's...great!" I was a bit hesitant on what to say. Was I proud of her? Yes. Was I nervous? Of course I was! I knew she wouldn't be deployed on dangerous missions like me, but still - she was my friend. Of course I'd be worried about her. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? "Are you nervous?"

She nodded. " _A bit. I was...wondering if you could give me some advice."_

"Sure! Yeah, I can totally do that. Um, anything in particular?"

" _Um...how do you deal with killing? Psionics, guns, things like that."_

I gulped. "Um...this is going to sound super morbid, Mary, but in my experience, you get used to it over time. The first few times for me...well, I'd used a lot of sims, so I didn't really _feel_ much of anything." I looked at her. "I'm sorry if I don't sound helpful." I was still worn out and recovering from supporting Caelior - not that I could tell her why. I felt like shit, and it _showed_. My brain felt like it was taking a power nap. "I'm just exhausted-"

" _No, no. You're doing fine. Hey, it's not like everyone can get advice from their super soldier friend, can they?"_

"Nope."

" _So uh, how are things in XCOM?"_

"Been on a mission or two." There was no way in hell I was going to tell her what I'd done. Secrecy and all that. But oh, how I wanted to. "Went great, no one died on my end."

" _It must be so exciting."_ She paused. " _Is it?"_

"The first time really gets your heart pumping. I felt a bit on edge. But…" I sighed. "I've resigned myself to the fact that my missions are going to be a lot riskier than yours. Tougher enemies, more odds stacked against me, the whole nine yards."

" _I get it. I'm worried about that stuff, too. Runiararch and Mutons I can handle okay, but I can't imagine what'll happen if they throw an Avatar or Ethereal or…_ " She visibly shook. " _Those Bringer soldier….things."_

I nodded. "I know."

Fuck, I couldn't do this. I didn't know what to tell her. What was I supposed to do, give her a ten-point process of how to take down a Hiveship? Already I felt a distance between us when it came to experience. XCOM was made up of the best of the best of the best for a reason- to fight the biggest and deadliest threats. I _wanted_ to tell her all these things - how to turn a group of Titans into your own private army, the best way to take down a Vanguard, the best place to shoot at a Herald.

But I _couldn't_.

I wasn't like her anymore. Only a few months ago, we were both teenagers trying to manage our powers. Sure, we were of different disciplines and different power scales, but we were still _learning_ , _developing_. I was there when she made her first personal full-body shield. She was there when I accidentally sent an embarrassing thought to the Magister. I was there when she sliced our lunch table in half.

And she was there when I learned what I _really_ could do.

We couldn't do that anymore. We couldn't sit down, put our arms around our shoulders, and just casually talk. Back then, we were still learning. Back then, we were still together. Back then...well, we just PRIESTs.

But not anymore. Now, I was...something more than human. Gene mods and nanomachines flowed through my veins. My teachers were mostly non-human with more years of experience that I could count. I had access to weapons and technology beyond anything ADVENT had, armor that could save my life several times over, had allies that were beyond mortal comprehension...there was just a disconnect.

And I'm afraid we both knew that too well.

But I still wanted to be there for her, as she was for me. I still wished I could sit next to her, and just _talk_. I missed that connection of talking to her about anything.

Another sacrifice I had to make for XCOM, all things aside.

" _Dawn? You okay?"_

I'm fine. Just thinking. I'm sorry if I've seemed really distant lately. It's just with all this XCOM shit and my family-"

" _Your family came?"_

Goddamnit, I'd forgotten to tell her. "Yeah. They're, uh, adjusting."

" _Things going better with them?"_

I nodded. "Oh yeah. _Way_ better. Other families here are getting them up to speed with the ins and outs of being an 'XCOM Family'. Mom and Dad are kinda stiff that they can't go back to their jobs, but I'm sure they could be trained in something. Grace...well, she still has a room to herself. She's been hanging out with a lot of other teens there who are kids of or related to their soldiers. It's kind of awkward when I hang out with them and it's like 'oh yeah, I killed a bunch of aliens with your mom yesterday' or 'your dad really knows how to snap someone's neck.'"

She chuckled. " _Okay, that's funny."_

"Yeah, it's a bit awkward for them sometimes when one of the people you command is about as old as your kid, niece or nephew. But it's all well and good down here." I stopped. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

" _Oh, uh my parents visited me yesterday. They told me to tell you that they said hi."_

I blinked. "Well, tell them that I also say hi back to them."

" _You bet I will. See ya!"_

"See ya." The call disconnected a moment later, leaving me to stare at the black screen.

_See ya._

I'd fucked that call up, hadn't I? I'd made myself look like an idiot in front of her over the whole advice charade, and I could barely relate to her.

_What the fuck are you doing, Dawn?_

_What the fuck happened to you?_

I rubbed my eyes, closing the tab and laying my head onto my pillow.

I needed to get my mind off of this.

Time for me to visit my four-armed friend.

* * *

_Praesidium_

_7/16/17- 2:47 PM_

I was outside of Caelior's room, hands clasped. I knocked on the door.

"Caelior, it's me. Can I come in?"

The door whoosed open. I reluctantly stepped inside.

"Hello, Dawn. I see you're doing well."

"Yeah, I am. Head hurts like a bitch, though. How about you?"

"I feel exhausted. I will not be able to get up for some time."

"You'll feel better." I patted his shoulder. "So, great job man. You really did it. For real. No Ethereal bullshit, no manipulation - that was all you."

"I am...proud. To do something like that feels liberating. I felt...powerful, truly. For the first time." He looked at his hands, flexing his fingers. "I don't know how to describe it to you, Dawn. It felt like a true victory, a _real_ accomplishment. Yes, Aegis and the PRIESTs did provide assistance, along with you of course, but it was _honest_ assistance. No deception, no lies, it was all real."

I smiled as he continued to talk. I could sense that although he was tired, that didn't faze him one bit - he did something _amazing_ , and he was damn proud of it. When he spoke, I could tell he was happy. There was no despair or regret in his voice.

For so long the Ethereals had held him back, and now he could truly discover his potential, and it had been tested yesterday.

And he had more than passed it. He'd aced it, and then some.

"Words enough cannot describe how thankful I am for your assistance, Dawn. When I was pulling it down, I felt little doubt that I could not do it. I felt...stronger, my resolve felt almost unbreakable."

I smirked. "All me."

"I felt your mind, You telepathy has greatly improved from when we first met. You are quite powerful."

"I still have a lot to learn, though. I'm nowhere close to Geist in terms of skill or output."

"I know. But it was not just your telepathy. It was your _presence_. The knowledge that you were there right next to me, dedicating your time, skills, and energy to helping me. It was something that I have not felt in a long time. A sense of friendship. Of true, unfiltered pride. Of belonging."

"I'm glad that I helped."

"You did, Dawn. Much more than you think. When I fully recover, I will make it up to you."

I raised an eyebrow curiously. "How?"

"I have several ideas in mind. You will see. But first-" He shifted his helmeted head back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I must rest."

"Do you want me to stay? I don't have anything else to do right now."

"Perhaps for a little bit. Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah. Um, it's kind of a big favor, though."

"What is it?"

"Would you mind introducing yourself to my parents? When you get better, of course?"

He considered what I said. "When I recover fully, it would be my pleasure to do so. I hope to make a good first impression."

"Yeah. But… I think they're going to be a bit suspicious. Scared, even?"

"Because of my previous actions?"

"Well, yeah. They've only heard about the new you through word of mouth, and the news. It might take a bit of time for them to get used to us being friends."

"I understand. I will speak to them."

"Thank you Caelior. That means a lot, it really does."

"Anything for a friend, Dawn."

_Anything for a friend._

I smiled. "You, ah, want to talk about anything else?"

"I would like to rest a bit more, Dawn. Thank you for coming by."

"Of course. Get some rest and feel better, Caelior."

"I will."

I walked out of his room feeling a bit anxious.

_Well, he's feeling better, but meeting the parents is going to be another story._

_Hope that works out._

* * *

_Project Nolan Training Center, Praesidium_

_7/17/17- 10:01 AM_

I walked into the simulation room, scanning the room for an unoccupied orb. I felt nervous- though not for the usual reasons. The simulation brief was, for lack of a better term, _brief_. It was simply 'a telepathic test against a target of equal telepathic ability'. Hmm. Wonder what that could mean.

I found an unoccupied orb and touched it. A blink later, I was in the Dreamscape, in my armor.

My surroundings were the usual - a black-empty space with no end in sight, simply an empty void from which anything could spawn. I reached out, feeling around with my mind for anything that could be waiting. I took a deep breath, calming myself. I'd recovered well from the Big Yoink - that's what a couple people around here were calling it, anyway. Video of it had gotten around the internet, and if Caelior hadn't already redeemed himself in the eyes of the people, this certainly showed the world just who he was - and what he could do. Memes, remixes - the people had breathed a collective sigh of relief as one less threat was taken down, even as fighting for the wreck raged on.

_The people._

Heard to believe I used to be one of them only so long ago. Not knowing about T'Leth or all the other _wonderful_ behind-the-scenes facts of this war. To know what was really going on gave you a kind of...comfort. But at the same time, the gift of more knowledge wasn't always just a gift, but a curse. Whether it was the Bringer's latest 'art', another disillusioned human drawn in by the Ethereals as another puppet on their strings, or some kind of new trick up their sleeve, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread whenever it'd come up. I hadn't forgotten what Bronis had told me about not giving up hope- far from it. But I couldn't help but not ignore that little voice in the back of my head that kept telling me that things would get worse, that our enemy would steep to new lows just to gain an advantage.

_The more you know…_

I snorted. Funny how much that saying meant now these days.

The Dreamscape shifted, and a figure appeared in front of me. It was as tall as me, partially hidden by the blackness of my surroundings. I immediately tried to probe it, but it hit back with a resounding telepathic attack.

_**Get away.** _

I gasped. "Wha-"

That voice. It sounded just like...no.

The figure stepped out into the light.

It was me.

An exact copy, at least. Her armor was the same, her face was the same, the look in her eyes perfectly matching him.

"T'Leth?" I nervously called out. "Is this some kind of joke?"

No answer.

What was I supposed to do? Kill her? Disable her? Fight her for a certain period of time?

She smirked. "No."

And with an outstretched hand, she hit my mind with a barrage of pain, sending me reeling.

Fuck, she was good.

But she was me. And that meant that she knew all my tricks.

I clenched my teeth, gathering my anger and retaliating with an attack of my own, slamming into her mind.

_Try to get in, see if you can find a way to take her down._

She briefly stumbled, before clenching a fist and hitting me with another attack, this one more subtle. Instead of outright trying to smash through my defenses, she tried to weave through my mind, searching for the cracks in the walls that kept me sane.

Yep, she definitely knew my tricks. Just like Aegis had taught me.

_A blunt attack, while sometimes useful, is not always useful. While your opponent may be preparing for a straightforward attack, a more subtle approach can be more deceiving, as well as less strenuous on your mind. While a fortification can be broken by a heavy bombardment, it can just as easily be destroyed through a well-placed infiltrator._

I balled my hands into fists, eyes flaring as I grunted, trying to hold her back as I felt for her mental intrusions, like trying to find a venomous snake in tall grass before it bit you. She was doing well - trying to cut off my concentration so I couldn't do my biopathy.

She was good. But I had a bite, too.

I roared, slipping into one of the mental cracks. As she tried to seal it up, I sent a stab of pain into her mind, causing her to cry out in surprise and rage.

_Keep her occupied. If she can do her biopathy, you're fucked._

"Not bad." She said through gritted teeth. "But you can do better."

She shot back into my mind again, doubling down on the pain. I tried to hold her off, focusing on my biopathy so I could take her down. But she was good-her efforts to break my concentration were working. So I decided to try the old-fashioned way.

"Yeah. I think I can."

I closed my eyes, focusing on my attacks on her mind. I went through my memories, trying to find _something_ that would throw her off. What would it be? Which memory could I use against her-myself to throw her off?

But a part of me didn't want to. I knew that she was the enemy, a copy made by T'Leth to fight me. But I didn't know if I had the guts to kill her. After all, even though she was fake, she was still like me.

She screamed in pain as my attacks increased. A mental punch hit me, making me cringe as she regained her footing, a low growl emanating from her mouth.

_Why hasn't she used her biopathy on me?_

_Could she be using it on my right now?_

If either option was true, my best bet was to break her concentration.

But how? What could I use that I normally _wouldn't_ do? As she pressed the attack, I drew some energy to rapidly combing through my mind, searching for _something_ to use. Hmm. It's going to have to be something radical, but at the same time enough to make an impact. I-oh my.

There was _that._

I grinned with a sick satisfaction as I found what I was looking for.

I refocused on her as she attempted to block the pain, inserting the images into her mind.

The one that tortured me for so long after I discovered who I really was.

 _Do you remember these?_ I said as the dream flowed back into her, reawakening the memory I'd tried so hard to suppress.

Mom melting. Dad melting. My sister, my friends. All collapsing at the cellular level, born of my fears and anxiety after killing the Sectoid. Like ice cream melting in the warm sun, like a soup fresh from the pot, they became liquid, dripping all over the floor, their guts and bones gone, leaving any recognizable trace splattered in a puddle of primordial soup.

_Do you remember how you felt, the terror, the fear, the worry, the horror at what you could do. What you did? What you could do?_

I didn't want to do this to her, I really didn't.

But she left me no choice.

Because war was war, and sometimes you did what you had to do.

I felt her mind slightly buckle, her concentration fluctuating. Again just like Aegis had said.

_If need be, using negative memories against a target will make it significantly easier to overcome their defenses. Overwhelming mental pressure, while not the easiest method, is also useful against more hardened targets._

" _No!_ " She screamed, collapsing on her knees as the images flowed through her mind. " _I won't! No!_ " Her voice cracked as her hands gripped her face, covering her eyes, trying to focus. " _Make it stop! Please, god, make it stop!_ "

Her attacks on me weakened, as I sensed her focusing more on keeping herself together.

_Do I press the attack?_

_Do I kill her?_

_What counts as 'winning' here?_

As she fell to the floor, crying out in pain, I summoned my psionic rifle, cocking it, aiming it right at her head.

_Don't make me do this._

_Please don't._

She managed to stare up at me, her hair mangled and face red, streaked with tears.

"Not bad. Didn't...see that one coming."

She sure as hell sounded like me, but there was more malice in her voice. There was a colder look in her eyes, the warmth and comfort of mine completely gone. The sneer on her face spoke volumes, like a schoolyard bully about to claim your lunch money. She was like an evil clone- 100 percent similar on the outside, but on the inside? Not so much.

Part of me wanted to pull the trigger, to kill her.

But I just _couldn't_.

The look on her face, the look in her eyes - it felt too close to mine, a mirror reflection of me. But what she did do was show me what I could become- a being built on hate and rage, driven only by the want to fight and fight until the war ended or I died.

I had sensed it and felt it in Carmelita when I'd fought with her. The hate, the loss, the pain, the rage, the want for vengeance so strong in someone that it simply _became_ you.

Could the girl that walked into XCOM all those weeks ago turn into…. _this?_

As I stared at her, I noticed her hand flaring with power. My eyes widened, realizing her little ploy.

"Eat this, you-"

I smiled. "I already did." I dove into her mind, punching a hole in her weakened defenses, another lesson by Aegis.

_An enemy cannot defend everywhere at once, for a thinly spread force is easier to penetrate. You must make them overstretch, then take advantage of such thinned out defenses._

She had concentrated almost all of her power onto preparing a biopathic attack. Pretty good - I would've done it myself, but there was a major con - while she was doing that, it was sacrificing most of her mental defenses.

I was in her head in an instant, rupturing her focus, breaking her attack, coursing through her memories, her thoughts, her emotions. Now I could see. As much as she looked like me, her mind felt...artificial. Crafted. Even though it was obviously a work of T'Leth, it was still interesting to see how a fake me felt. It felt _colder_ , less emotional, less feeling. But at the same time it was odd, seeing someone else have your exact memories. Unsettling, even.

But that wasn't the point to consider right now.

_You are mine now._

I had won.

I had complete control.

What was I to do?

And in that split second I made a decision.

_Die._

And she did. Everything that I - I meant _she_ was, wiped away.

All of a sudden, I felt her vanish, the world around me shimmer. I opened my eyes in shock.

_Oh. I...I guess it's over now._

I looked around, making sure there wasn't anyone else itching to kill me. Nope. Empty.

Well, that was certainly something.

I felt a pang in my chest, realizing how close I was to not killing her.

_Why did I pause to kill her, unlike all of the others? Because she looked like me?_

While that may have been true, the truth was that on the battlefield, it wouldn't be any different. When I would kill out there, I'd be leaving families broken, fathers without sons, mothers without daughters.

Daughters like me.

But I had to. It was just something you _did._

Because if you didn't shoot first, they most certainly would.

And then _you_ would be the one coming home in a body bag. And I didn't want that. Grace wouldn't want that. My parents wouldn't want that.

My friends here wouldn't want that.

How would Kunio feel if Dawn, his friend and little sister type, came back dead?

What about my bunkmates, knowing that the girl in that one bunk with the smile on her face, that youthful expression in her eyes who always found a reason to be happy would never come back?

And Caelior. Oh god, him. How would he react? He'd be devastated - it could mentally affect him even more on top of everything else he'd been dealing with.

I _meant_ something here. I was _someone_.

I couldn't forget that.

But even though I'd won, I just didn't feel right.

It was the same feeling I'd felt after my meeting with the Commander about his mission to the Congo. The feeling that even though I'd completed something and understood it, something just _got_ me. Like a nagging feeling the back of my head whispering to me.

_That's not right, Dawn._

_That's not right at all._

_You shouldn't do that._

I ignored the thoughts, shaking my head as the simulation ended, my mind returning to reality.

But the gut feeling was still there.

I left the simulation room, pulling out my phone and texted Kunio.

_Hey, if you've got some time, I think I have an idea about your training..._

* * *

_XCOM Family Base_

_7/18/17- 1:23 PM_

"You ready, buddy?"

Caelior nodded, his hood and helmet masking his face. "I trust I will make a good impression upon your family."

I smiled. "You sure about that?"

He chuckled. "Yes"

Caelior wouldn't fit in my parent's room, so we agreed to meet in one of the common areas - Caelior made sure we'd be left alone. So he and I were awkwardly sitting next to each other.

My family walked in a minute later, my mom and dad freezing at the sight of my Ethereal friend casually sitting down. My sister seemed less scared and more intrigued, looking him up and down.

Finally, my mother spoke up. "Hi, Mr. Caelior. It's a pleasure to meet you."

_Pffft. Mr. Caelior._

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Charlotte Conley. I have been looking forward to meeting you and your mate for some time. However, there is no need for formalities"

My mom raised an eyebrow. "Mate?"

I spoke up. "It's how they say spouse."

"Oh." She turned to my dad.

"Hi." He said, offering a hand. "I'm Dawn's father. It's nice to meet you. Dawn's spoken very highly about you as a friend."

Caelior took his hand, my dad obviously surprised by his strong grip. "It is very nice to meet you."

I could sense there was tension between the two. I didn't use my telepathy because of privacy, but you could definitely tell my parents felt off about him. Grace, on the other hand, seemed more open to him, excitedly shaking his hand.

The trio sat down at a table across from him.

"So, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"

"It would be my pleasure. I am currently one hundred and fifty-three years old. I used to have two parents and an extended family, but I am, unfortunately, the last of them. I was...conscripted into the Maelstroms, until I was recruited into the Collective."

My parents furrowed their eyebrows at the mention of the Collective. Caelior didn't ignore this.

"I am sure you are somewhat suspicious of me due to my past experiences. I do not blame you for your reluctance in trusting me."

Oh, a little on the nose, buddy.

"I know that I have caused much harm to many people. I know that I have much to make up for. And if you fully do not trust me, I understand."

My mother looked at him suspiciously. "You seem awfully honest."

"I am. I find it a side effect of being around you humans. In the Collective, I was..a pawn, at best. Prized only for my powers and nothing else. They fed into my arrogance rather than my mental health. When I was captured, I assumed XCOM would kill me."

"But they didn't."

"No Gerald, they did not. They showed me mercy. They gave me purpose and proper training, and did much for me that other Ethereals had not. Over time, I began to realize that I was not the supposed hero I had been led to believe - I was simply a propaganda tool, constantly lied to and manipulated to suit their needs. XCOM changed that. I have grown during this time. After I was almost killed in Japan, I began to view things...differently. I expanded my interests, reaching out and becoming more involved in XCOM."

He nodded his head to me. "And that is how your daughter and I ended up meeting."

I took over from there. "Caelior and I first met before the First Annual Ethereal Basketball Tournament. I joined his team, and after we won, we started hanging out. Turns out we have quite a bit in common."

My dad interjected with a pleasantly surprised tone. "You play basketball here?"

"Oh yeah. I play here and there. Fun way to relieve stress. Plus, Caelior here's a damn _monster_ on the court. I do it with all my friends."

"And since then, the two of you have been hanging out?"

"That's right. I've been introducing Caelior to a lot of our culture, and honestly we're pretty relatable on many levels."

"How so?" Mom asked. "That seems...odd."

 _What isn't odd these days?_ "Well, for starters, we're both teenagers - or equivalents - with special skills who were thrust into war. Caelior was conscripted when he was young in the Empire, and I chose to join XCOM."

"Though Dawn's recruitment was more consensual. I had no choice. But I am very glad Dawn and I ran into each other. She has helped me adjust to XCOM and humans, and overcome the many misconceptions I had about your kind."

"Hey, if I hadn't joined, who else would've helped you with the Hiveship?" He playfully elbowed me. I snorted.

My mom raised a finger. "if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did she help?"

"It was simple by telepathic standards. Dawn reinforced my mind and focus by connecting her mind to mine, using her skill in telepathy to back me up. But it was not as simple as that."

"How, exactly?" My dad seemed curious. "She's not a telekine…"

"She is not, but what she _is_ is a friend- a good one." He put a hand on my shoulder. "I said before that I can relate to her in many ways. But it also works the other way around. When she and I began to 'hang out', I realized something."

"That being…"

"That being that she can learn much from me and my experiences. I was taken advantage of very early in my life before I fully developed as a being in both body and mind. My worst attributes were turned into my greatest weapon, and it cost me both friends and respect. And eventually, almost my life." He turned to me. "Although XCOM would not treat Dawn with such contempt, I found it useful to teach her about my life experiences, so she may not become the prideful, arrogant, being I once was."

"No offense, but that prideful, arrogant being threw a damn aircraft carrier at a city and crushed a lot of people."

I opened my mouth to respond to my mom, but Caelior held up a hand.

"You are right, Mrs. Conley. I did do those things. I acknowledged that I hurt and killed many humans. I understand that my past does not fully excuse me for what I have done. And I do accept the responsibility of fixing those things so I can redeem myself. I cannot travel back in time and reverse what has been done. If I could personally meet every family that I have broken or taken from, and apologize to them, I would do it without hesitation."

My mom seemed surprised at his response. I gulped, feeling my heart beat. I guess he knew they would bring this up, and had prepared accordingly.

_Where was he going with this?_

He turned to look at me. "I do not blame you if you remain suspicious of me being around your daughter. If I were in either of your positions as a parent, I would feel the same about my children. Perhaps more so. I am only asking for you to understand. To watch and see. In time, perhaps you will be able to forgive me for my actions. Although I have done much for humanity since my...changing of allegiances, there is much more to be done. And the responsibility for that is no one's but my own. And befriending your daughter and teaching her how to not make the mistakes I did is one of the many ways I choose to redeem myself."

He sat back down in his floating position, laying his hands in his lap. My mom and dad both looked at one another with...what was it? Concern? Intrigue? Confusion? My sister simply nodded at him, winking at him with a _you've done good_ look on her face. After a short whispering session, they turned back to the floating Ethereal.

"Thank you for that speech, Caelior. We...ah, accept this. But we are not done yet." She turned back to me. "Now Dawn, you were saying something about a basketball game?"

_This is where the fun begins, Mom. Better strap yourself in for this one._

* * *

_Twenty Minutes Later_

We walked out of the common area and back to the entrance. Caelior leaned on the wall, staring at me as if anticipating something.

"Well...I think that well."

"Indeed it Dawn. Did I make a good impression?"

"I think you did, buddy. Your people skills were great. No worries."

He nodded. "Thank you.I did not want to seem overbearing or intimidating."

"Caelior, you weren't-aren't any of those things."

"It is appreciated." He paused, twiddling his thumbs. "May I ask something of you?"

"Sure."

"I have been thinking of something,." He said. "While there were not friendships in the same way Humans have them, I have been researching some of the differences. One of them is spending time together, as a 'bonding experience' as the term was. I would like to invite you to my quarters sometime soon? I would like to make it up to you for helping me with the Hiveship. I also have some Ethereal food I would like to share with you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ethereal cuisine?" I chuckled. "Well, why didn't you say so earlier? Sign me up!"

"Thank you." He replied. "I have also confirmed that none of the food is poisonous to Humans."

"Of which I am _definitely_ thankful for."

He nodded. "I simply want to do this to appreciate what you did for me with the Hiveship."

I reached out, hugging him. He lifted me up, allowing me to hug his actual body and not his armored leg. "I appreciate that, big guy."

"Thank you."

"So, when do you want this to happen?"

"Are you open tomorrow for this?"

"Yes! I'd love that. Want me to bring some popcorn?"

"Indeed, Though I think you will find _ga'sel'muschen_ equally appealing."

"Food what now?"

"In your tongue, you would call it _farseer's delight_. It is...like a cake, made with _bateln_ berries and _vour'turren_ cream from our home planet. Though I will have to make do with artificial substitutes, unfortunately."

"Now I'm listening. Want to pick the movie?"

"Instead of a movie, I was thinking we could play some of your video games instead. Would you be fine with that?"

"Definitely! That sounds awesome! How does seven tomorrow sound?"

"Sounds excellent. See you then."

I walked back to the bunks feeling...surprised, but not in a bad way. I hadn't a slumber party in _ages_. Hey, any excuse to wear my pajamas was one I'd take. And it was always good to spend time with Caelior. He was a great friend - so why not?

Tomorrow was going to be fun. I could tell.

* * *

_Caelior's Quarters, Praesidium_

_7/19/17- 7:00 PM_

I stood outside of his door, backpack in hand. I'd stuffed some nightclothes and a pillow, along with a blanket and toothbrush. I'd snuck out while no one was looking. I admittedly was a bit nervous. I hadn't done something like this in a while, and I didn't want things to get awkward.

_It's going to be fine. Just relax and have fun, Dawn._

Caelior opened the door a moment later and invited me in. He was holding a plate of food in his hand. I walked in, looking around the room. I'd noticed that he'd laid some pillows and a blanket on the floor as a sort of mini-bed for me. That was sweet of him. He's also set up a TV and console, with two controllers set in front of it.

"Welcome. I see you brought something?"

"Oh, it's just some sleepwear. What's that in your hand?"

" _Ga'sel'muschen_."

"Oh, the cake thing?"

"Yes."

"It smells great. I'll eat in a sec." I sat my backpack on the floor, and took the plate, sitting down in front of the television on the faux bed. "Hey, is there a place I can change clothes?"

"There is a bathroom and shower over there if you need it."

"Wait, you have a private bathroom in here? With a shower and everything?" I chuckled.

"Yes, I do." He cocked his helmeted head.

"Neat." I grabbed my backpack. "I'm gonna change real quick, alright?"

"Very well. We shall watch the film when you get back."

I walked into the bathroom, and changed quickly. As much as I liked the simplicity and comfort of the XCOM-issued clothes, sometimes normal clothing was just the better option. For me, it was a t-shirt and pajama pants reminiscent of the slumber parties I'd had with my friends back in high school. It felt more more, more casual, less official. I shoved the spare clothes into the pack, stripped off my socks, then walked out the door. Caelior was sitting cross-legged on the floor, turning on the TV. I sat next to him, inspecting the food he had given me.

"How are you feeling, Dawn?"

"Great, actually. I haven't had a sleepover with a friend in ages." I sighed, laying on the blanketed floor and staring at the ceiling. "I used to go to my friend's house on the weekends and crash there. Oh, was it fun. We played videogames, talked about guys, did makeup, did each other's hair, oh my god I miss doing that."

"Your parents allowed you to go to other places without supervision?"

"I mean, yeah. They trusted me, and I didn't do drugs or anything. Why?"

"I did similar activities as a child. We Ethereals have social connections and interactions, too. We did not necessarily have parties like you did, but did have times where we came together and enjoyed ourselves."

"I see." I looked at the food, noticing the lack of silverware." How do I eat it? I don't have a fork or something-"

"My apologies. One moment, please." He grabbed a plastic fork wrapped in plastic, probably from the cafeteria. I took a piece of the cake-thing, and inspected it. It smelled like cinnamon, but had a chocolate brown color. I put it into my mouth, chewing and swallowing.

"How does it taste?"

"It's sweet like a mango, but it's got a bit of kick like jalapeno pepper." I took another bite, digesting it. "Honestly? I like this. It tastes like a mix of coconut and banana, with a bit of apple thrown in. It's a bit soft like a sponge cake, but this is pretty good."

"I am glad you like it."

"You got this from the food synthesizer thingy, right?"

"Yes. XCOM recovered it from my ship. One of the few things I didn't lose…" He trailed off. "So, the video game. You prefer a first-person-shooter, yes?"

"FPS, yeah. Played a lot back in the day before the invasion."

"I find that genre entertaining. I am mildly surprised - and slightly disturbed, how many of them involved an invasion of an alien species in your fiction, not just video games. This one in particular…" He held up a game with a large man in green armor holding an assault rifle on it. I grinned like a madman.

" _That_ one? Oh, I _love_ that one! That's a classic! Used to play it all the time before I signed up!"

"Is that so?"

I smirked. "Want to find out?"

I thrust the blue glowing energy sword into Caelior's character as he came through the door, killing him instantly. He shook his head.

"Must you always hide behind corners and wait for me?"

I chuckled. "Hey, camping is a legit strategy, man! You know what they say - work smarter, not harder!"

"If only the Battlemaster employed such a grand strategy."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Indeed." He fired his sniper rifle, killing my character with a direct headshot.

"Damn!" I watched his character pick up the sword. "Enjoy while it lasts buddy, cause you're not going to be having it for long." With a devious grin, I picked up a shotgun, hot on his trail.

"It is not my fault my species has superior reflexes." To add insult to injury, he let go of his hands, using pure telekinesis to play with the controller.

I rolled my eyes. "Show-off."

"Says the Biopath."

"Says the guy who pulled down the Hiveship." I responded, as I picked up the rocket launcher, making a beeline for his last known position. "I didn't even know you played video games."

"I have been enjoying them since my introduction. XCOM introduced me to them as part of my therapy. While I do prefer more...strategic games, as they helped me learn how to critically think a bit more. I can find these quite energizing. The rush and the combat flow very well together."

I fired my rocket launcher, draining Caelior's shields as he ran away. Where was he-? My eyes widened as my character ran outside only to run straight into the business end of a tank's barrel.

Caelior pumped a fist into the air as my guy exploded. "Yes!"

I snorted. "Not bad, Caelior."

He chuckled. "I am sure you will have better luck next time."

We continued for a few more minutes until Caelior paused the game.

"Dawn, may I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you know much about the relevance of helms in Ethereal society?"

I shrugged. "Only what Aegis told me, I think. They wore them originally in the old days to hide their identities, right? And then it evolved into a cultural thing. That whole unmasking thing is a sign of trust, right? Especially like romantic relationships?"

"It is. However, by doing that, it can mean a lot of things, not just in a romantic sense. It can mean the start of a lasting friendship, or a sign of trust."

"That's interesting. Have you ever done that with someone before?"

_Where was he going with this?_

"There was one. Another Ethereal, around my age. Her name was Amera. We were in the same Maelstrom training team together. We were...close."

"Did she…"

His voice quieted. "Die? Yes. Overrun by Synthesized soldiers. We had been together for a few years, but we had talked of possibly becoming bondmates. Having children. We both knew it could never happen. But we had hope. Hope that we could still come out of the war alive, the two of us."

I put a hand on his knee. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No apologies necessary, Dawn. Her memory lives on in here…" He pointed to his chest, presumably where his heart. "..And here." He pointed to his head. "She is one of the many reasons I fight now. Perhaps one day the Synthesized can be beaten…"

"And?"

"I lied to you."

"About what?"

"About all the gifts I had to give. There is one more."

_Was he going to-_

He reached up with two hands to his helmet, swiftly removing it, placing it in his lap. I gasped as I looked upon his fully exposed head for the first time.

I put a hand over my mouth, gasping in shock. "My god...Caelior…"

He smiled. "How do I look?"

I didn't speak, simply staring at his oval-shaped head. His smooth purple skin and the curvature of his head took me back. It was just so...alien.

But his fiery orange eyes were another story.

Besides the slight red pupil, his eyes were completely orange. Looking to his eyes was almost mesmerizing. I couldn't quite nail it down. Was it psionics? Was it because of the color?

"You...Caelior, you look great, buddy."

"That is good.I trusted you with helping me take down the Hiveship. After everything else we've done together, I don't see why I shouldn't do this."

I smiled. "You look great, Caelior. I...I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"I appreciate that very much. I have not done this in centuries." He grinned, flashing a set of teeth. "But with you, well, I can trust you with it. Can we do another hug?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He telekinetically lifted me to his shoulder, where I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning my head on his neck, feeling his skin. It felt cool, sort of like a water bottle filled with cold water. His skin had the texture of a tire, but a bit softer and more malleable.

We didn't say anything, just embracing each other, comforted by the knowledge that we could trust each other.

"You're like a sister to me." He said quietly.

"Really?"

"Indeed."

"Then you're like the brother I never had."

"An apt comparison."

"Yes. Yes, it is."

He eventually lowered me to the ground, and we finished the rest of the game in silence. One it was all done, I snuggled into the mini-bed on the floor, while Caelior removed his armor, climbing into his bed right next to mine wearing his black skin-suit.

"Goodnight, Dawn." My Ethereal friend said from above me. "May the brightness of the stars keep you safe."

"Where's that from?"

"What you would call a nursery rhyme. My mother would sing it to me every night."

"Don't let the bedbugs bite."

"If they do, I shall crush them- wait."

I snorted. "Goodnight, Caelior."

"Goodnight, Dawn."

* * *

To be continued in:

**How To Melt People 101**


	15. How To Melt People 101

_Caelior's Quarters, Praesidium_

_7/20/17- 5:53 AM_

I slowly woke up, blinking groggily as I looked up at the bare ceiling, the darkness only illuminated by the lava lamp sitting on Caelior's nightstand. I sighed, lying on the makeshift, yet comfortable bed.

I hadn't done this in _ages._

I needed a break.

I reached out and grabbed my phone lying on the floor next to me. Huh, looks like I woke up a little early. I turned to look up at Caelior's sleeping form on his bed, his body slowly rising and falling as he slept.

Thank god he wasn't a snorer.

I wiggled my toes, my body getting used to being fully awake. Ever since my surgeries, I'd noticed it'd been much easier to fall asleep and wake up. There was still that mental fuzziness, but there was _much_ less of it after it was all said and done.

Only drawback being there was no such thing as sleeping late in here. 6:30 sharp, no later, no exceptions.

Well, unless you were on designated medical rest or in the infirmary, of course.

As I got up, crossing my legs under the sheets, I felt Caelior's mind. I didn't pry - what kind of person would I be? Even if I tried, it'd be sloppy - my mind wasn't fully in the right place yet. But he felt...more at peace. Relaxed.

I smiled. _Good for him._

I remembered what it felt like to go into his mind back in Turkey, feeling and seeing so much. His mind was so complex, yet in that moment it had seemed so simple, focused on the Hiveship and nothing else.

But that bond...man, I didn't even know what to say. In those few seconds that our minds were joined, I felt so much. I mean, I knew that compared to an Ethereal I wasn't much, but my god, I felt small compared to him. All the things he'd done, seen, and that wasn't even mentioning the sheer _power_ he had.

In that moment, I felt...it wasn't _overwhelming_ in that sense, it was more of feeling outmatched in a way - though not in a bad way. It felt more enticing. I had a taste of his power, and in that moment I felt like I'd wanted more. The ability to crush entire armies, pull buildings from the ground, rip spaceships from orbit and bring them down to earth.

But it wasn't what I did, and in that sense, it felt unnatural.

I'd wanted to ask him about it, maybe ask if I could show him some of my memories, but I didn't know how to say it. We were friends - really good friends. His unmasking showed that.

But I didn't know what else to say. He was a good friend, better than any I'd had in high school. We weren't _together_ together, but that was fine with me. I'd stick to humans or Vitakarians if I wanted to date someone, thank you very much. But I trusted him. A _lot_. He'd seen more shit in his life than my entire family's recent history, and there was a lot to learn from him.

But he could also learn from _me_.

I noticed his body slightly move, him groaning as he woke up.

"Dawn. You're awake."

"Sleep well?"

"Yes." He swung his legs off the bed, yellow eyes staring right at me. "Why are you not wearing any footwear?"

"Hm" Oh." I chuckled, hands gripping my ankles. "Shoes can be overrated. Plus, I really can't sleep in socks, my feet get too hot." I got up. "I gotta say, thanks for that. This was really fun."

"I am glad it was. I'm happy to see you enjoy yourself."

"Don't we all. Listen, I kinda want to ask you something."

"Sure."

"About the Yoink-"

"Is that what your people are calling it?"

I chuckled. Leave it to us humans to give something so awesome a silly name. "Well, some of us. It's about that bond thing, before you fully pulled it down."

"Ah. That. Did it make you feel uncomfortable?"

I gritted my teeth. "I kind of feel like I sorta breached your privacy. I don't really remember seeing any memories - well, not ones that I can comprehend or remember, really. But I was just so _deep_ in there, and I wanted you to know that if it felt weird or intrusive or anything-"

He held up a hand. "No, you are alright. You went into my mind to support me, not to breach it."

Well - that was good. I nodded. "Well, I was thinking, if you ever wanted to do something like this again, maybe I could show you some memories or something."

His left eye slightly slanted. Huh, must be their version of raising an eyebrow. "What would you show me?"

"I have a few ideas. School, vacations - hey, you ever gone swimming with dolphins?"

"...What is a dolphin?"

I smiled. "You'll see."

"Very well. I will take you up on that offer. Do you want to set a date?"

"How about next Friday?"

He nodded. "Consider it done. Do you want to play videogames as well?"

I nodded. "You want to watch a movie too?"

"What kind of movie do you have in mind?"

"A few movies, actually. Not all in one night - unless you're down for that. Relic from my childhood, actually. Hell, they were basically all I watched for a long time as a kid."

"Sounds intriguing. What are you suggesting?"

"Ever heard of a Disney Movie?"

"No."

"Then you're in for a treat. Um, can I use your shower?"

"Yes. I requisitioned some shampoo for you. Ethereals lack the body hair you do. Did you need a toothbrush and toothpaste? That is what it is called, yes?"

I snorted. "Yes. Don't worry, I brought all the necessities in this baby." I patted my backpack. "Some clothes too, so things don't get awkward."

"The shower is quite large. Do not get jealous."

"I'll try not to."

* * *

He wasn't lying. The shower _was_ large.

Of course, it had to fit someone nine feet tall. Couldn't exactly cramp someone in a six foot space like in my bunks.

_Lucky._ Only issue was that I had to get on my tiptoes to turn the damn thing on, but whatever. Sure was nice of him to get me that shampoo, though. Gotta say, it was a welcome break from showering in the barracks. No loud commotion of women in other shower stalls talking in languages you couldn't understand, with the occasional bout of cursing. Combine that with the smell of sweat and soap with steam _everywhere_.

At least the aliens that built this place had the decency to make the showers one-person only each. Didn't exactly feel comfortable with...well, you know. But hey, the women there respected my privacy, and that was good enough for me.

I did my thing, got changed, gave him one last hug, and walked out to the barracks to drop off my stuff.

"Hey."

Lian stepped in front of me as I was about to open my locker, with a suspicious look on her face.

"Hey, Lian. What's going on?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Ummmm…"

"Um, what, exactly?"

_Hmmm. How should I go about this? Make a joke? Be sarcastic? Play dumb?_

_Eh, straightforward's gonna have to do._

"Hung out at Caelior's place, played some videogames. I got really tired, so I slept over there."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"Uh, yeah."

She pursed her lips, muttering something in Mandarin. Probably a curse. "Well, alright then. You do you. Some of the others were asking around what happened to you. You'll have to tell them sooner or later. Let someone know if you go off like that, we notice when routines are broken."

I sighed. "I'll do that."

"Alright. You should know there's going to be a drill next week."

"LIke a fire drill?"

She chuckled. "Same concept. It's something the Internal Council conceptualized after Patricia's attack, it's very new. It's basically practicing several scenarios in case the Praesidium comes under attack. They've been installing a lot of new defenses after they rebuilt the place."

"Such as…?"

She shrugged. "Ethereal or Harbinger attack, nanite swarm, et cetera. I'm sure we'll get more details on it soon."

Looks like XCOM kept on giving me new things to worry about. What was I supposed to do, throw on my armor over my pajamas? It took me a bit to put on my armor - would that even be enough time to fight anything hypothetically attacking the Praesidium?

She noticed my expression. "If I had to guess, you'll probably have orders to haul ass to the nearest gateway. I was talking to Knight-"

"The nanokine?"

"Yeah, nice person. You should talk to her sometimes. Anyways, everyone gets a little email with descriptions of where to go, what to do. Since she's our only non-Sovereign nanokeine, her orders were to get her ass to the Gateway room. 'Asset protection', she called it. Wouldn't be surprised if they did the same for you."

"I see. Thanks, Lian. Got something else to look forward to."

"Take care, Dawn. Oh, and nice job with the Hiveship. Made for a hell of a show."

I put my backpack back in my locker. _What a night, huh?_

_No worries, no stress. Only wholesome bonding. And hey, he showed you his face! That's_ _**awesome!** _

Who knew that one of my best friends would be an alien of all things?

And yet, he wasn't just an _alien._

He was like me, two sides of the same coin. Only, he had seen what I hadn't, done what I hadn't.

I could learn from him, yes, but he could also learn from me.

I shook my head. It was a shame it had gotten to this point to have him improve. It said a lot about Ethereals when they couldn't even do something that we could do in a matter of months.

_Care. Love. Acceptance._

I found it funny that I'd done something the Battlemaster hadn't when 'training' Caelior- relate to him, befriend him, and in the end, _care_. Help him better himself without belittling him and making him feel like shit.

I was glad Caelior was away from the rest of them- away from their lies, their pain - maybe here, among humanity, he could finally find peace.

Well, time to eat breakfast, then.

I had a lot to think about - and to plan our next hangout.

* * *

_Paperclip Base_

_7/21/17- 11:25 AM_

It's not everyday that you're the odd one out species-wise at the lunch table.

Not that I was intimidated or anything - sure, they were all taller and larger than me, but the only thing that really stood out was the food, especially the amounts of food they were eating - Carreria and her friends especially. I know Borelians required more calories than us humans- they were taller, stronger, and had more muscle mass, which meant they had to eat a _lot_ more than us.

It was a little odd to see such large, overbearing aliens using small utensils to eat. Although they used their large incisors to break down the food in their mouth before digestion, they refrained from using their huge claws to eat. As Carreria put it- "We're not savages, kid."

As I watched them eat and talk amongst one another, I couldn't ignore their loud chatter and laughter. Their attitude seemed pretty lively, and due to their nature, I couldn't exactly blame them. As I said before, her people were loud and proud, and they sure as hell let everyone else know it. It made sense- they were physically imposing among Vitakara, second only to the Oyariah. Their militarized culture, while somewhat reminiscent of ancient Sparta and Rome, encouraged showing off and pride to reinforce their 'bring it on, motherfuckers' mentality.

They were seen universally by other Vitakara as the military strongmen of their race, and for good reason. Even before the Collective found them, they had Vitakar's largest military to bear, having more tanks, planes, and ships then anyone else; and post-contact, they made up a vast amount of Runiararch and Luranian. Quite simply, they were _built_ to fight. Even without augmentations, the average Borelian could hands-down kick any regular human's ass: they could take more hits, lift more, run faster, and hit harder.

It made me thankful for my psionics and the next-gen arsenal I had access to - it made killing them much easier.

Carreria took notice of me watching her impromptu pack decimate the steak. "You think this is intense? Be thankful you've never seen a Borelian feast, Dawn. The amount of _karva_ meat we consume alone would take up an entire alley of one of your supermarkets!" She again chuckled upon me raising an eyebrow, giving her a _really?_ look. "I am only joking. Mostly."

It wasn't just her extreme chow that intrigued me; it was the sole Cobrarian at the table, Sallien, a female who had been sitting...well, sitting's not exactly the right term. Her serpentine body allowed for her to coil her lower half allowing her to sit...on herself. I'd never met one in person, and the sheer physical differences made it hard for the uninitiated to believe that she was even remotely related to the other races. She was basically a very large snake with arms, with brown-golden scales and black eyes.

She looked exactly like an oversized cobra, without the hood. Actually, that was just a viper. Yeah, viper was a better comparison. She was using utensils like everyone else, until a piece of corn fell off her fork. Without hesitation, her long tongue shot out of her mouth and nabbed it, pulling it back in. She noticed my surprised expression.

"Allow me to guess. It is the first time you have seen one of my kind in person, correct?"

"Yes?"

She shook her head. "If you were interested, you could have always asked me a question. I would have been more than willing to answer."

"I'm sorry, I was just…"

"Hey, lay off, Sallien. She is new to this, remember?"

_Thanks, Ravas._ "I didn't mean to look weird or anything. I-"

"What is your ability again?" She asked, cocking her head. "Something to do with cells?"

"Biopathy. I can do the opposite of what Sana'Ligna does."

At the mention of her name, the two Vitakara perked up. Carreria and her friends were busy discussing something about guns, or something like that.

"Can you elaborate?"

"Well, what Sana does is that she uses her telepathy to control cells. In her case, she can heal many wounds, and even cure diseases. I do the opposite. I control cells and tell them to break apart, melting someone's limbs, head, you get the idea. I'm basically a smaller version of her brother."

Their eyes lit up. "That is fascinating! If you do not mind me asking, what is it like controlling cells? It must be very different from controlling one's mind."

"Oh, you have no idea, Trella. It's...hmm. How do I say this? When you control someone's mind, you're managing _one_ person, one thing. When I do biopathy, I have to go under the layer that normal telepathy operates on. I have to go in _deep_ , like _really_ deep. Then when I actually get there, I have to focus on a certain body part or organ. I picture it in my mind, and then I focus my power on the cells. It's kind of like training a pet, only I tell them what to do over and over again."

"And then it just...melts?"

"Well, yes. But that's not quite it, Ravas. I can't really melt an entire body yet, only parts of it. So when I'm practicing or in the field, I have to choose a body part, like the head, and melt it."

"Can you do it to multiple targets?"

"No, not yet." I said shaking my head. "I think I could eventually, but for right now I can really only focus my willpower on a single target. With my normal telepathy, I definitely can...think it's like twenty-something now? But for biopathy? Just one."

The two Vitakarians looked at each other. Sallien cocked her head again.

"I must say, although I've talked to psions before, I've never heard of anything described like that. It must have been harrowing for someone so young to learn all of this."

I shrugged. "To be honest, I kind of...just got used to it. XCOM's been really accommodating with me, and I have to say, although I never saw myself ever doing something like this, in the back of my head, it just feels _right_."

Trella took another bite. "It's interesting how you humans look so similar to us, and yet are so different. I am...confused on something."

"Uh, sure. I think I can help you with that."

"What is your opinion on ADVENT? For a government that sprung up so fast and so quickly, I am surprised many humans were not suspicious of it."

"Oh." I scratched my head. "I can't really speak for humans overall, but I can speak for me. When ADVENT came around, Australia had been taken, and everyone around the world was freaking the fuck out. Tons of people stopped showing up at my school because they thought the world was going to end. Me? Well, I was scared shitless- I thought we were going to lose straight up, just like that. I mean, it was like a plot from a movie. And then, right the fuck out of nowhere, this 'ADVENT' shows up and starts fixing everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...things got better under them. See, I come from a country called the United States of America. Pre-war, it was a superpower - massive military, massive economy, crazy amounts of global influence. We weren't too dissimilar to your Vitakarian Republic when it came to our governing style - we're a republic with a voting system, equal rights, things like that. That gave a lot of its people pride in their country- me too. But it wasn't perfect. There were...well, a lot of issues. There was a lot of racism, shittons of corruption, poverty - I could go on for days. Far from it, really. ADVENT changed all that. Before ADVENT, I'd always see homeless people in the streets and parks, asking for money and being treated like shit. ADVENT gave them homes and a new life. Before ADVENT, the people that were supposed to speak for me in government were neck-deep in dirty money, putting their greed first while everyone else suffered. ADVENT locked them all up and gave us a system that actually gave two shits about us."

I sighed. "I'd always wondered when the system would change for the better. Part of me thought it would never happen in my lifetime. But when something like ADVENT comes along with all this new stuff, buffing our armies to effectively fight the aliens, and making our lives better. Hell, Grace and I probably wouldn't have been able to go to college without being in debt for possibly the rest of our lives. But with them - it's all free! People like me have a real chance in life to become better!"

Ravas pursed his lips. "But were you ever suspicious of them?"

I scoffed. "Of course I was! It didn't feel natural for so many changes to happen so quickly. My friends and I all had our little theories - but we didn't care, because we felt like there was hope, that our lives were going to be easier because of it. When I got here and learned the truth, a part of me almost felt like 'oh, of _course_ it was the fucking Illuminati the whole time'. But…" I shrugged, taking another bite. "Some things you just gotta live with, I guess. If ADVENT ever does try to pull something. I'm sure XCOM will stop it. In a way, we're like the ultimate check and balance system against ADVENT. If they try to pull a fast one on us for some godforsaken reason, _boom_." I snapped my fingers. "We've got an AI, and a metric fuckton of advanced tech. Not to mention our own psions. So, that's something, I guess."

"I never thought of it that way. It is an interesting viewpoint."

"Hey, I did my best." I smiled. "I really should come here more often. You guys seem nice."

Trella smiled. "You are welcome anytime, Dawn. It was very nice to meet you. Are all of your race's young like you?"

I grinned. "Enough, yes."

Carreria tapped me on the shoulder. "Are you finished with your lunch, Dawn?"

"Yep."

She smiled, showing off her incisors. "Some of the others here are going to do a volleyball match. Do you want to come?"

My eyes lit up. "Did someone say volleyball?"

She chuckled, patting my head with her paw. "Come along, little cub. Let us see you stand against the might of the Vitakarian race on the court."

I elbowed her side. "Don't make me use my psionics!"

"Don't make me bear-hug you!"

"Ha!"

* * *

_Medical Bay, the Praesidium_

_7/21/17- 1:00 PM_

I walked into the medical bay, scanning my ID on the door. It beeped, and clicked open. Aegis was lying on the hospital bed. His helmeted head turned to me as I sat down in a chair by his bed.

"Dawn. Glad to see you are doing well."

"You too. Heard you got injured fighting in the Hiveship against the Guardian and those Meat Puppets."

"It indeed was a challenge. Though I will be fully recovered shortly."

I nodded. "And we're all grateful for that. I gotta say- I had my doubts about the Hiveship op, but we really did it. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I could help Caelior." I sighed. "But I did. I really did it. And I couldn't have done it without you, Aegis."

He rumbled, adjusting so he was sitting up, his upper back lying on an oversized pillow. "I am pleased to see my telepathic training has worked. I am proud of you for helping Caelior pull down the Hiveship. I am glad to see the two of you have become friends."

"Well, I guess you could say we're both sides of the same coin, if you get what I mean. We're not that dissimilar. We've been helping each other out with our own issues. Met my parents, too. He's growing, but there's a lot more for both of us to cover when it comes to the whole fighting department."

I adjusted my hair. "Actually, I kind of came to tell you something about your teaching."

"And that is?"

"I never properly thanked you, for teaching me what you have. I know that I've complained a lot when it came to our lessons, and looking back, I just felt like I may have come off as ungrateful sometimes-"

"You have not."

"Sorry?"

"I see what you are trying to say, and I understand. But you have been a good student of mine, and have applied your skills well. You take what I say seriously, and I can tell you enjoy learning from me. Yes, you have complained, but you have learned and adapted. If you had not, and resigned to mere whining, then I would have taken other measures. But you have taken my lessons seriously."

I smiled. "How could I not like being taught by an Ethereal? You're legitimately one of the most interesting teachers I've ever had. And it'd be dumb of me to ignore someone with so much experience. I guess…" I looked down at the floor. "I guess I just thought I wasn't being appreciative enough."

He nodded. "While I appreciate your concern, I prefer you taking my lessons and applying them to be successful."

"And you think I've done that?"

"While you have a lot to learn, you have taken my teachings to heart. Were you an Ethereal and an aegii in the days of the Empire, you would have made a good Aegis."

"I don't think I would have made a good Aegis."

"Really? Because it is not so different from what you do now."

"Hmm?"

"Dawn, what is the primary goal of XCOM?"

"To protect humanity, whatever the cost."

"Not dissimilar from the Code of the Aegis. We served to protect the Empire and its citizens with our abilities and skills, no matter what it took or cost. Let me ask you this - why did you want to join XCOM?"

"I joined because I thought I could use my abilities to the best of my ability here, pardon the repetition. I wanted to improve and get better, so I could protect humanity. In a way, I'm unique, and I didn't want to waste that."

"You see? Like me, you wished to protect your people. A respectable goal. You have many good qualities, Dawn. Yet I can tell you underestimate yourself."

"You can?" I said somewhat meekly. "I mean, you're not wrong…"

"You have much potential, and you've been working towards that. Yet I can sense some fear and doubt in you."

I nodded. "Yeah. I know. I'm still working on that. It's getting better, but it's going to be a while. Just need more experience, like you said. Rome wasn't built in a day, and I sure as hell won't become a super soldier in one day either."

"Is there anything else you wished to say, Dawn?"

"No. Just wanted to stop by and check on one of my favorite teachers. Get better soon, Aegis."

"I will, Dawn." As I got up to leave, he muttered something that must've been in the Ethereal language. It was strange - whenever an Ethereal spoke English, there was always what I called the 'Ethereal accent'- certain letters, especially the letters _a_ and _u,_ would be over pronounced, and the normally booming and echoey voice was somewhat limited, as if said Ethereal was holding back in some way. Maybe their phonetics didn't work like ours did? I had no idea, I was no linguist. But when they spoke their natural language, it sounded smoother, more stronger. Even though I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, the way he pronounced his words felt almost _poetic_ and relaxing, like listening to a river flow downstream.

"What was that?"

"I was simply wishing you good luck, Dawn."

"Ah. I, uh don't suppose that after our next lesson, you could maybe teach me your language?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Doesn't hurt to be curious. Plus, Caelior sometimes dips in and out between English and Ethereal Script, so it could be useful."

He paused for a moment. "Very well, I shall teach you some of my language during our next lesson."

I waved goodbye and left.

Well, that was a good talk. Glad he's doing better. My 'schooling', if you could call it that, wouldn't be the same without him. He didn't talk all that much, but his lessons were the most important - and why wouldn't they be?

* * *

_Dreamscape_

_7/24/17 - 10:05 AM_

Geist stood across from me, staring at the Ethereal I had spawned. It stood inert, waiting for a further command. It wasn't based off of any certain Ethereal, so it looked like a standard Ethereal soldier from the Empire from Caelior's memory. My resident German teacher was here to check up on my weekly progress. He'd been doing this ever since my first mission, to see what I was doing in my free time to improve my skills.

I hoped he would be impressed by what I had to show him today.

"So Dawn, what do you have to show me today?"

"I've been working on a little something with my biopathy. I think I have something that, if all goes well, could be pretty damn effective against high-value targets on the battlefield."

"Very well. Proceed."

I rubbed my hands together. "Okay, so I've been doing some thinking about how to apply biopathy on the body. Completely melting the target, like how Mortis does, while guaranteeing a kill, is both very time and energy-consuming."

"Correct."

"So, I was doing some thinking on which body parts or organs to melt to do the most damage. I was initially considering the brain, which on the surface would make sense when fighting something like an Ethereal. And I remember what you and Aegis said. Although telepathic attacks _could_ prevent biopathy from being used on one's head, many telepaths aren't properly equipped to block biopathy at such a low level that it operates on."

"That's correct."

"But it got me thinking. Why just think about the _brain_? Sure, if you took out someone's brain they're dead. If you control someone's brain, you control their mind. But...you can't extend the mind to other parts of the body. So…" I pointed to the spine. "If I were to melt a certain part of it off, say in the neck area, it'll be immobilized. Plus, the spine is smaller and less complex than the brain, which makes it much easier to melt, especially for a beginner like me." I looked back at Geist. "Can I demonstrate?"

"Of course."

I cleared my throat. "Observe." The imaginary Ethereal fired several Dynamo blasts out of its hands towards the wall away from us, scorching it. "Using its limbs, it can project directed psionic assaults. Now…"

I closed my eyes, focusing on its body, in particular the spine. I imagined it in my mind, thanks to transferred Ethereal anatomy charts Aegis telepathically gave me earlier. I focused on the neck area, concentrating on the spinal cord and the bonds holding it together. I imagined the nerves inside, communicating with the neurons and transmitting biological data at incredibly fast speeds as I wrapped my mind around it, visualizing the cells.

_Just like bricks, they come crashing down._

_C'mon...there you are. Break._

I felt the cord slightly shake, sending a wave of pain to the Ethereal.

_Break._

The bonds began to be whittled down. The alien shook in response, twitching.

_Break._

The discs between the vertebrae melted.

_Break._

The nerves collapsed.

_Break._

The spine broke, severing it right at the Ethereal's neck. The sound of the body hitting the floor snapped me out of it. I opened my eyes, taking a look at my handiwork.

"Good work." Geist looked at the immobilized Ethereal.

"As you can see, it can't move. It can't use its arms or legs, therefore not being able to direct its attacks, making it easier…" With a thought, my psi rifle materialized in my hand. I walked over to it, pulling off its helm, revealing an Ethereal head with a blank expression. I shot in the head a few times, blue blood spilling out of the hole in its head. "To kill it. However, it's not as easy as it looks."

"No, and it is unlikely to be applicable on the battlefield without significant training and no shortage of luck," he said. "The concept, however, is sound.""

I nodded. _No battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy_. "Yeah, it's a lot easier on paper. But I think it can work. All I have to do is focus on the target, picture the organ or body part, and have at it. And as the target's weakened, it makes it easier for allied forces to kill them."

"And you picture it based off of charts?"

"Yes, Aegis has helped me a lot with that." I tapped my forehead. "He gave me some knowledge of alien anatomy, since some of their organs are slightly different from ours. But overall it's pretty similar."

"You also mentioned the heart?"

"Yes. The heart, while a bit more complex, is another target, though in this case if it's destroyed, it's going to take longer to do, but it sure as hell is gonna hurt a lot more than a severed spine, and will definitely kill anyone who I do it to. In fact, I'll give you a demonstration, if you want me to."

"Unnecessary. You're overcomplicating this."

"What?"

"There are easier ways to kill if that is your intention - what does the heart _do_ Dawn?"

"Uh...pump blood through the body?"

"Yes."

He seemed to be waiting for me to get the connection. "I...uh…"

He released a small sigh. "And what carried the blood?"

It seemed like a trick question. "...blood vessels?"

He nodded. "How fast will a Human die if they bleed out?"

I suddenly got it. "The arteries!"

An approving nod. "A blood vessel is far less complicated than a heart. It will incapacitate an enemy just as easily and in less time."

"Very well. Proceed."

I closed my eyes, asking T'Leth to summon the next target.

_Let's make it special._

A copy of Yang Shuren, the only and only traitorous Dragon appeared, swords at the ready, frozen in position. Even as a fake, seeing her so close was downright intimidating, if not outright scary. In any other situation, I'd be running.

Although the armor was kind of cool. I wonder where she got the stuff.

But not today.

I closed my eyes, focusing on her arteries around her wasn't much of a challenge, since human biology was the easiest for me to navigate, for obvious reasons. They were funny little things, their design being like a massive bundle of strings spread across the body, helping to deliver fresh, oxygen-rich blood. I couldn't focus on _all_ of them across the body just yet, so I picked the ones closest to the heart.

But even the most advanced warrior could be undone with a single action, a single thought; but only if it was _applied_ right.

And here, it was no different.

I concentrated, the silence of the simulation aiding me in my zen-like focus. I knew that it would never be like this on the battlefield - not like the enemy would oh-so-politely cease fire so I could pull off my signature move. There were a lot of factors that would have to make this work- line of sight, cover, the target being within proximity, the target being in range (in my case a few city blocks _at best_ , and even that was stretching it), and so much more.

But I was going at this by baby steps. Still targets first, then moving, then add other enemies...it's like climbing the stairs - you did it one at a time, because if you took all the steps at once, you'd most likely fall over.

Of course replace 'falling over' with mutilation, death, or whatever else the enemy could come up with.

_Here we go._

I focused on the arteries, feeling the blood flow through them as my influence slowly wrapped around them. It...wasn't that different from picking up spaghetti with a fork, watching each individual noodle wrap around the fork as you brought it to your mouth.

I couldn't decide if that was funny, mobid, or just plain disgusting.

As I breathed through my nose, I began to close my fist, concentrating more and more on the arteries. I'd figured that associating certain body movements with certain thoughts or actions could help with the telepathy. In the case, the closing fist was akin to me tightening my grip on the arteries, putting pressure on the cells to fall apart. If I did it right, not even her augmentations could stop the sheer amount of bleeding.

And if I didn't do it right? Well, I'd look like a fool in front of Geist.

Not something I wanted right now.

As I felt the cells begin to move at my whim, I felt the arteries' structure walls began to weaken, as the outer layers were being shaved off by my biopathy. I felt Yang's body shake, her grunting in pain as she put a hand to her heart.

I grinned.

_Too late, bitch._

I squeezed my fist, tightening my grip as I shaved off more and more of the arteries' layer. I could feel more and more blood pumping into them; it was like a balloon filled with air, about to burst.

_Gotta keep the pressure on._

I felt the blood flow through them, the arteries beginning to swell. I heard the Avatar's cry of pain, but I didn't care.

_Boom._

The arteries collectively all exploded at the same time, the flow of blood having been thrown out of wack. She screamed, falling to her knees as more and more arteries blew, blood spilling out and flowing freely with nothing to stop it.

_Oh no, has the Dragon lost her wings?_

As her body contorted in pain, Geist held up a hand, her body vanishing.

"You have made your point."

I snapped myself out of my trance. "Did I do a good job?"

"You proved a concept. In that sense, yes, you did. I would caution against practicing like this if you wish to continue. A battlefield will not allow you to get your bearings and allow serenity so easily. Nor will your target stand there and wait for you to kill them - you will need to be in close proximity for this - and they will soon realize what is happening, and target you. However, this was an acceptable demonstration of your refined skill." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "A reflection on how you've improved. For that, you should be commended."

"Hey, I have a good teacher. Well, _teachers_ , but yeah, you've done a really good job. It's been pretty fun working with you."

He arched an eyebrow. "Good. Students learn more when they enjoy themselves. I'm glad you think so."

"Exploring my abilities, learning lessons from you and the others. It just feels kind of unreal, doing my psionics. You were right when you said that you didn't want your students just sitting at desks, doing busywork. This-" I gestured to the Dreamscape. "Is just so much better than practicing on rats, prisoners, or the occasional alien ADVENT brought in."

"I appreciate that. I am glad you take my teachings and use them. Many of my students felt the same way back when I taught chemistry."

"Sure as hell be better than _my_ chemistry teacher. All he did was give us the textbook and drone on and on about whatever the subject was."

"And I assume this method of teaching made you disinterested in chemistry?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah. We did some hands-on stuff, but he was kinda overbearing about the whole thing. You'd be leagues better than him."

_Hopefully ADVENT got rid of him and replaced him with someone else._

"Therein lies my point. Keeping a student engaged as I did with my students, and now you, is the best way to make a student interested in a topic."

"Well, it's definitely working."

"Indeed. Which leads me to my next lesson. Next week, you'll be fighting me telepathically."

I gulped. "What?"

"I will attack your mind, and you will defend it. After that, you will be attacking my mind next."

"So I just try to last as long as possible?"

"No, you will resist. Or you will not. Fight as if you are intending to win, not pass a test. When you will be attacking me, how deep you are able to get through my defenses will be judged."

"I see. Anything else?"

He hesitated, frowning down at me. "I can feel you are worried about this, Dawn. I am not unreasonable, nor do I expect you to surpass me during will do fine based on what you have shown me and XCOM. The Internal Council is pleased with your progress."

I looked up at him. If my helmet wasn't off (I had a habit of keeping it on, even if it wasn't entirely necessary), he would've seen my eyes light up like my neighborhood block's Fourth of July party.

"Seriously?"

"The Commander spoke with me yesterday. He is pleased to see you are doing well, and that I am putting my previous teaching experience to good use."

"What did he say?"

"He said you have done very well so far. I do not believe he ever expected a teenager under his command, but he is pleased to see your recent performance in Guinea and Turkey."

I gulped. "That's...uh, that's something."

"Indeed. However, it will likely be a while yet before you are put in any large-scale battles."

I nodded. Perfectly understandable. "I understand, Geist. Thank you for that."

"And thank you, Dawn."

"I'm sorry?"

"I have not had the enjoyment of teaching someone like you for...a long time. Watching you learn and expand your knowledge is greatly enjoyable. It was the reason I became a teacher. To give my students the best chance they could to take what I told them and apply it in ways that many others could not. While the context of your lessons are radically different, the basic principles never changed. You have been a very good student of mine, and I will not forget that."

And then he...smiled?

"Geist, I…"

"That will be all, Dawn." His voice sounded lighter and warmer, almost….happy. "That will be all."

* * *

_Sparring Room - Praesidium_

_7/25/17 - 2:30 PM_

My feet dug into the padded floor, my bent legs keeping my body straight as I panted, sweat beading down my face as I shook my head, getting my hair out of my eyes. I held my fists in front of me, ignoring the minor bruises on them.

My opponent reacted, throwing a punch at me. I dodged it-

While his other fist hit me right in the gut, knocking me down. I hit the mat back-first, falling over onto my side.

"Ugghhh…"

"Need help?"

I noticed Said's offered hand, and took it, him helping me up, patting me back. I hadn't actually met the last remaining Fury in person before, and when I decided to go to the sparring room today, I'd decided to try my hand, as I had several times earlier.

This time, like the ones before, all ended with the same result: while two _adult_ XCOM soldiers sparring would be called a fight, it became a game of _throw-the-teenager around_. Even though I had augmentations just like the rest of them, my body wasn't done developing yet, and I was no athlete - the closest thing I had to sports experience was playing basketball with my friends.

Hence why I was the lowest-ranked on the sparring scoreboard.

"You alright, kid?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry, you didn't break anything. Imma go sit down for a bit."

"Take care."

I got off the mat, putting my shoes on, as my socked feet tended to fare better when moving around on the mat. I walked away, and sat down, leaning against the wall and downing some water. So convenient to have so many damn water stations all over the place, ready to hydrate Earth's Finest. I watched as the next pair started sparring, throwing punches and blocking, as one does.

I scoffed. Even with Kunio and Zara giving me some tips, along with the hours of working out, I still really couldn't compete with any other soldier on a physical level? Psionically-wise, I could do a decent job. But going head-to-head in a fistfight?

Hell no, I'd lose every time.

Kind of reminded me of when I'd see Fiona duel the Templars, teleporting around and so-and-so, deflecting hits and moving like some kind of killer cat. I admired whoever was brave enough to do that, because truth be told, I didn't have the balls to get up close and personal like that in combat.

Not that I _had_ any in the first place, but that's besides the point. Heh. Besides, I was more of a stay-back-and-shoot person.

Speaking of Fiona, I'd never actually gotten a chance to have a conversation with her, besides a _hi_ and _how are you doing_ here and there. Whenever I'd see her, she was almost always with Kunio, teaching him. I had no doubt in her skills - if anything, her footage alone spoke for itself.

Speaking of footage...I'd been wondering about some _things_ since the clusterfuck that was Patricia's failure to turn New York City into mincemeat.

All of them concerning some of our, _ahem_ , Sovereign-aligned coworkers.

For one, why the _fuck_ did Ir Nara's armor look like a _carbon copy_ of those soldier dudes who Kunio had fought? It _could_ have been a sheer coincidence, but XCOM had taught me that in this war, there was no such thing as coincidences.

I wasn't the only one concerned about this - I'd heard whispers here and there speculating about it. Nothing too serious, but something about it just didn't feel right. Sure, Nara was sort of - no, really a bitch. I'd heard from friends of friends who were scientists that, while incredibly smart, she could be a pain to work with. She regarded many things with absolute disgust and contempt - Fiona especially, whom in that case, the feeling was mutual.

And then we got to Fiona.

I had nothing against. Really, I didn't. But the more I was around her, the more I began to feel _off_ about her. Like something was just... _not right_. It wasn't the hair, or even her armor. It was the green psionics she performed.

Now, I wasn't some kind of expert about the color of psionics and why, but I knew some basics. My psionics, the purple one, was a sort of 'basic' kind of psionics. The Agents' blue psionics was probably some result of Sovereign science. Ok, that made enough sense. Not that I was actually smart enough to understand how it worked, but alrighty then.

But _green?_

Odd.

Was it even psionics in the first place-?

"Busy, Dawn?"

I immediately recognized Bronis' thick Russian accent and perked up. He was standing above my sitting form, holding a tablet.

"Uh, no Overseer. Just sitting down and resting after I got my ass handed to me."

"I can see that. Do you want to step outside?"

I nodded, following him outside, where we sat down at a nearby table.

"Something you want to talk to me about, Bronis?"

"Yes. Another of your progress reports came in, and I wanted to update you on a few things, particularly concerning your recent mission."

"I see."

"Same as last time, your biopathy's time has been whittled down, and Geist made a special note of the demonstration you gave him with the targeted biopathy. He seemed quite pleased with your progress."

"I do my best, sir. Can't take all the credit, though. He's been a superb teacher, and I'm lucky to have him."

"I'm glad to hear that. Everything checks out on the report, and progress-wise, you're doing well. There is something you should know, though."

"Yes?"

"The Commander wants you to do an in-person demonstration of your abilities. He's been monitoring your progress, and wants to see you do it in person, as well as give him a run-down of what you've been doing."

_The Commander?_ "So like a...presentation?"

He nodded, noticing the look on my face. "Don't stress. Think of it as a...presentation of sorts for your commanding officer."

_So like a homework assignment, but with extra death._ "Is there anything specific he wants me to do?"

"Let me see...his exact wording was 'a demonstration of your current abilities, as well as speculation of possible strategies and applications of biopathy in the future.'" He set the tablet down. "That makes sense?"

"Yeah, fair enough. Just melt a target or two, and tell him what I've been working on, and what I plan to work on in the future."

He nodded. "Sounds good, Dawn. That's everything I wanted to bring to today. You've done well here, and shown XCOM that hiring teenagers can be beneficial to our operations - if done right, of course."

I chuckled. "Well, sometimes us teenagers can get the job done just as good as you adults. A lot of people tend to forget that. You just have to give us a chance.."

"And it's paid off, in no small amount to your work and dedication."

"Of course! I mean here, I've been shown more respect here than a lot of adults have in the past. A lot of people think that just because we're young doesn't mean we can't make an impact on things. I know respect goes both ways, and it shows. I mean, I really respect you a lot, Iosif. You've fought the Collective's knight in shining armor and came out alive. Not to mention your mission in China. I don't really know if I could ever do that."

"Well, it took me a while and a lot of lessons learned to get there. What you're doing right now is going to build up your experience. You're not ready now, but you've certainly got the initiative."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But hey, maybe one day you'll be like our own knight in shining armor. You've got the whole dueling thing down, and you're very deadly."

He chuckled. "I doubt it. I don't even have a flashy armor set or anything."

"Don't need fancy armor to be a knight. A lot of people here look up to you, me included."

"Fair enough. Well, I have to go. See you later Dawn, and good luck!"

"See ya!" I waved as he got up and walked away.

I got up, walking to the Dreamscape room.

Time to get my mind off this- and to prepare for my little biopath demo.

* * *

_Therapy Office - Praesidium_

_7/28/17 - 3:30 PM_

I sat down in front of Doc Yates as she shuffled through her notes, finally setting the notebook down.

"How're you doing this morning, Dawn?"

"Well enough."

"That's great. Anything you want to say before we get started?"

I shook my head. "No." I didn't feel comfortable talking about Caelior's unmasking with anyone besides him yet. I felt like that'd be a serious breach of privacy- Ethereals took their unmaskings very seriously. Going around jabbering about it would make me look like a huge asshole.

Not something that would've exactly helped with my already odd reputation here.

"Very well. Today, we'll be covering some more hypothetical things in relation to you and how you've been progressing."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It'll be quite simple. I'll give you a hypothetical scenario, and you tell me what you would do in it or why."

"Sure, that sounds interesting. I'm up for it."

"Alright." She picked up her tablet. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes."

"First question. Let's say that tomorrow, XCOM tells you that they've recruited another teenager around your age, and they want you to help them get settled in and used to XCOM. How would you help them?"

_Coming right out with the interesting questions, are we?_ "Well, first I'd introduce myself, try to be as friendly as possible, get to know them a little. Ask them about their psionics, experience, things like that. I'd show them around, give them the lay of the land, rules and all. I'd offer to practice with them in the Dreamscape whenever, and introduce them to some of my friends. I wouldn't be like super clingy or anything, but I'd make it clear from day one that if they needed help of any kind, I'd be there."

"Is there any advice you'd give them?"

"Oh yeah. Put on your adult face. Basically, yes, you're still a teenager, and you'll have time to fuck around here. But people here aren't gonna appreciate the shit we used to pull in high school. Rumors, pranks, that's not really a thing here."

"So, acting mature is what you're saying."

"Yep. So don't say shit like 'Oh yeah, the Chronicler's so old he probably fucked the Mona Lisa' or anything about Creed and Patricia. Because I'm very sure that if you do, he will actually kill you. But you didn't hear that from me."

"Another thing- friendship is key here. Despite what one may think, XCOM isn't made up of one-man-armies. Whether it's your bunkmates, the people you sit with in the mess, or your squad, friendship and connections are important here. You're not going to get anywhere by acting like you're some kind of badass from day one. Talk to people, get to know them. Look at the schedule, see if there are any activities you might be interested in. Swimming? We've got it. Basketball? We've got it. There's always something to do here, and that makes the experience even better."

I paused, wondering what to say next. "And don't be afraid to say hi. Yes, you may be much younger than everyone else- hell, some of the soldiers probably have kids your age. But that doesn't mean they're not going to like you or shun you. Trust me, I was afraid of that when I got here, but that pretty much went away when I started talking to people. XCOM's like a family, and no member here is left behind. If you take the time here to talk to people, you'll integrate here a lot easier. "

"What about combat?"

"Well, that's a bit more difficult. I really haven't been in any big battles in real life, but I could try. I'd probably say for starters is to focus. When you're fighting, The first time is hard for everyone, but XCOM's not going to send you out there until they think you're ready. I'd accompany them in some sims, kind of guiding them along like Kunio and the others did for me."

"I see. Is there anything you think you could improve on that XCOM didn't when they were integrating you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think XCOM mishandled any parts of your early integration?" She noticed my concerned expression. "Whatever you say is confidential between you and me, Dawn. It's against my position to tell others this information- it's a violation of privacy and doctor-patient confidentiality."

"I don't really know." I shrugged. "I mean, no one was really outright assholeish to me, and no one here really has it out for me. It's not like 'Oh, there's the teenager. What'd _she_ do to get in here?' or 'Shouldn't you be in high school?' stuff like that. I guess I need some more time to truly judge that."

She smiled. "That's good, Dawn." She took more notes. "Are you ready for the next question?"

"Sure."

"Let's say that right now, you could go back in time and talk to you the day before twelfth grade begins. You can say whatever you want, no limits. What do you tell her?"

"I can say anything?"

"Yep. Anything."

_Well, shit. That's something._

"Okay. Um…"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before I let it out, opening my eyes.

"So it's your senior year. I know you're worried about college, friends, and the money. You know money's been tight for your family, and you still don't know if James likes you. Should you ask him out? Yeah, you should. Ignore Mark though. That's not...it doesn't work out."

I sighed. "Focus on grades, and you're going to do well. The year's gonna be great - well, some of it. I don't know how to say this to you- it sounds crazy, insane, borderline like something from a book or a movie. But there's going to be something that changes the world. Overnight, you're going to see and learn things that are going to make you feel small and insignificant. You'll feel like the world itself is going to fall apart. You'll wonder if all those nights of studying and stressing about that next test or project was even worth doing in the first place."

"Because it was. Because all that work taught you how to work hard. It taught you to give a shit. And college is going to be a no-go. Something….something is going to happen. I know you've been looking for something all your life that made you different. It wasn't that failed cheerleader tryout - hell, it wasn't even that job you had that you got laid off from. It's...inside you, part of your genes. And it's been there from day one. Trust me - there'll come a time when you know when to get tested for it. You pass the tests, and you become something more. Someone more."

"But there's one more thing. Eventually, your skills will uncover something that seems unnatural. Scary even. But when you feel like a freak, when you feel you're at your lowest, you'll be invited to a group. A group that you never thought you'd be a part of. And once there, you'll find things beyond your wildest dreams. You'll find people so different from you you never thought capable of even _existing_ , let alone being able to understand. You're going to find the friends you never thought you'd have. People with...so many things. I can't tell you what these things are because you'll have to discover it yourself, like I did. You're going to become a part of something greater, and it may seem tough the first few days, I _promise_ you it's going to get better. You'll know people that you will come to call sisters. Brothers. They don't care how young you are, they'll love you for who you are."

I smiled. "I can't promise you how it'll end. I can't say if the ones around you will have a happy ending. But I can promise you this. You're going to have those fantasies of becoming a hero come true. You're going to be afraid, you're going to be scared- but you'll also be happy, and flowing with such much excitement you'll wonder if sometimes it's really all real. But it _is_. The stakes will be high, the odds will be on another level, unlike what uncle and pops fought. But you _will_ fight. You'll be working for people who you may not truly understand or comprehend, but you must trust in them."

"Trust the people you will sleep will, the people you will eat with, the people you will train with. You'll learn, you'll grow, you'll laugh, but most importantly, you will live like you never have before."

"If I must tell you something, I'll tell you this. There are a few words you'll want to remember. Some are names, others are titles, but when the time comes, you'll know what to do."

I cracked a knuckle. "Storm. Aegis. ADVENT. XCOM. Geist. Kunio. Sierra. Commander. In time, they'll come to make sense, but remember those names. They will be _extremely_ important."

"And one day, you will discover there are...others like you. Two of them. One likes to heal people and wear white, but she's no better than a toddler trying to shove a toy in its mouth. The other kills and wears black, but his odd mindset made many of his people shun him. You may learn from them, but whatever happens, you can't become like them. Don't follow their examples and emulate them. Because whatever you do, whatever you want, do not let what happened to them happen to you."

Yates looked at me, and smiled. "That was very good, Dawn."

"Was that too dramatic?"

"No, no. You did well."

"What about it was 'well'?"

"You put a lot of focus on emotion and yourself- it sounded like you were actually talking to a past version of yourself. You seemed very comforting and understanding if the past version of you _did_ know."

"I did?"

"Yes. You did great, Dawn." She smiled. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"No. That was...it was something. But there is something I'd like to talk about with you."

"Of course."

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and I just thought I should talk about it. So, I've been writing a lot about my life recently. Kinda like a journal, but I've been putting more...material in it."

'What do you mean?"

"Kind of...it's harder to explain. It's kind of like a bare-bones autobiography, but with a lot of speculation about a lot of things in general in it."

"So it's like your thoughts on paper?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that."

"I don't see why that would be an issue or anything. Writing down your thoughts is a healthy activity for your mind, and a good way to vent emotions. Are you worried about it or anything?"

"No, just wanted some professional advice. Thanks, Yates."

"No problem Dawn, always a pleasure talking to you."

We said our goodbyes, and I left. I had to say, I felt much better about what I wanted to do. It had been in the works, but I think it was about time I'd get down to doing it.

I had a feeling it'd be fun.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_7/30/17 - 7:24 PM_

I sat at my computer, lounging on a comforter, staring at a blank document.

_How do I start this?_

_I was no different from my peers growing up - raised in a middle-class home in Nashville, surrounded by a loving mother, father, and twin sister that looked just like her save an upside-down 7 birthmark on her right shoulder._

_I went to school, I learned, I did some hobbies, and I grew._

_I thought I was like everyone else around me, destined to grow up and follow the lifescript preached to me by so many. But in the back of my mind, I wanted something more. I wanted to make an impact on the world, but I did not know how. I wanted to grow, reach out, and learn in ways, but I did not know how._

_I read books both young and old, about various heroes my age rising up and taking a stand to do what was right. I listened to stories from my grandfather about his fight against the evil Nazis, genocidal monsters led by a twisted mustached little man who horrifically warped and destroyed everything he touched. I listened to stories from my uncle, who fought against the savage Caliph, religious zealots unlike anything the world had seen before, taking the words of an ancient prophet and unleashing with it atrocities and terror onto the Middle East._

_A part of me wanted to be like the men before me, but I did not know how._

_I wanted to be different- but I did not know how._

_But the universe is an odd place - and little did I know the very thing that would make me different rested inside my genetic structure, resting like a sleeping tiger, awaiting the day where it would be awakened._

_And when aliens attacked, something that I'd only seen in media, something I never thought would happen, my world changed overnight. A new order took its place, taking a stand against the invaders and solving many of the issues that plagued the pre-unified old world, issues I'd never thought would see solved within her lifetime._

_And I saw my chance._

_And on the day my city's PRIEST testing center opened, I took a chance and applied. I passed the test, and to my surprise, I was a psion- a telepath at that, and a powerful one. A ninety, six points higher than the then-famed Patricia Trask, before her fall from grace. I chose to be awakened, and I began my training, using my new gift to perhaps do what I always wanted to in life._

_But the universe is an odd place - and had one more surprise for me._

_I remember that day well. It was the fifth of April, 2017. It was like any other day. I was delving into a Sectoid drones' mind, going deeper than I'd have ever gone before, when I encountered something...odd. A barrier, a deep one._

_I broke it, and with that came the revelation that I was much more than just a telepath._

_I was a biopath. One who could manipulate the very structure that life was based on, and bend it to my will._

_And soon enough, XCOM asked me to join them. XCOM! Asking me, a teeanager to join them! I couldn't say no, so I accepted._

_I will admit, I had a rough start. But I adjusted, in no small part due the people around me. I had a new home, a new family. I had new teachers, with an arsenal of knowledge I could never fathom could have existed._

_I learned that there had been two others that could do what I had done, one dressed in white, clouded by childlike naivety, the other in black, more human than Ethereal when it came to his mind, but held back by his former rulers; a healer and a cheater of death respectively._

_But I was not like them- I had not been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I was not given the love and attention of an entire race. I did not have the same resources, the same powers that had._

_But I did have something they didn't._

_You want to know what that was?_

My finger hovered over the keyboard, hesitant to finish the statement.

_What did I have that they didn't?_

My mind raced with ideas, trying to think of something.

_Come on, come on…._

I gulped. Maybe I could think of that later.

But still, this was a good start.

But what to call this...thing I had created? Could it eventually become a book (with the classified parts removed, of course)? Could it just be my little pet writing project?

It had to be short, nothing too long or too dramatic.

Hmmm.

I shook my head. No, the name would come later. Right here, right now, all that mattered was my story.

And I would be the one to tell it.

And with that, I began to type.

* * *

To be continued in:

**Operation: Jagged Cross**


	16. Chapter 16

_Dreamscape_

_7/15/17 - 3:35 PM_

The last of the targets collapsed to the floor, lifeless.

"Excellent work." Aegis nodded. "Your time to kill has notably decreased."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're timing this?"

He nodded again. "Yes."

I smiled. "I do my best. What's next?"

"I believe I promised you a different kind of lesson after my main one today. One which involves knowing our language, of which you previously expressed interest in."

"That's right. I'm ready."

"Good. Though, this will be taught differently than what you are used to," Aegis said. "There is little time for traditional instruction. The transfer will primarily be done via telepathy."

"Will it hurt?"

He shook his head. "No, but it will disorient you. The initial transfer will be limited, as you remain an adolescent, and large transfers could have negative effects. However, it will be sufficient, and is the safest option for now."

"So, I'll be able to talk in Ethereal Script?"

"Unlikely. It will take some time for an alien to speak it properly, but you will be able to discern texts, even if you will initially lack certain contexts. Ethereal Script is not a one-to-one translation - as a language, it is more similar to Mandarin or Japanese, to use Human equivalents. If you were fluent in either, I expect you would adapt quicker. Do you have any other questions?"

I shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I guess we can start now."

With a wave of his hand, a board appeared in the air with some….glyphs on it. It sort of looked like a crossover between cursive and normal characters, with a series of shapes seemingly incorporated into some of the 'words'.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

A moment later, a single finger touched my forehead. I felt a barrage of letters and words I couldn't fully comprehend flow into my mind. My whole body froze as I felt...I don't know how to say it. It was like a lesson from a teacher, but plugged right into your head. Only it wasn't just _one_ lesson, it was tens, if not hundreds, being shoved into your brain. Yet, it didn't feel messy at all. It had an odd _order_ to it.

Letters.

Words.

Names.

Syllables.

Vowels.

Punctuation marks.

It felt like so much, yet it still felt _simple._

I looked at the letters on the board, and something shifted in my brain as I began to understand what I was looking at. The first...word turned from gibberish into "The sky", the second became "is blue", and the third group became "and the grass is green".

It was all over as soon as it began. I gasped, my head pounding as I fell to my knees, groaning and gripping my head as I stared at the board, trying to concentrate.

"Aegis, the board sys 'The sky is blue and the grass is green, right?"

He nodded. "Correct. Good job. You can read it now, but it will take you some practice to speak it fluently."

I groaned, rubbing my forehead. It didn't _hurt_ so much as feel _annoying_. "I'm guessing talking to Caelior can help?"

"Indeed. I would assist you, but I am quite busy this week. Next time we have a lesson, I will spare some time to help you."

"Thanks. That...was an experience."

"It was a pleasure." He nodded. "I will send a language program to your device later to assist in informing you of nuances that do not come from technical knowledge, should you wish to learn more. Good work today - I will see you in several days."

He left the simulation, his body dematerializing from the Dreamscape. I blinked, rubbing my eyes, as I departed a second later. I felt a bit better, but was still having... _thoughts_. A word in Ethereal Script here, a vowel pronunciation there- ugh.

I shrugged, pulling out my phone, texting Caelior.

_You free in a few hours? Got something to show you._

As I closed the app, my eyes drifted over to my texts. I scrolled through my contacts, most of them friends from school. We had a group chat so we could all stay in touch after high school, and for the most part, we talked on there.

Well...in my case, 'talked' was pushing it. For security reasons, I hadn't mentioned the PRIESTs, and talking about being in XCOM was out of the question. It made me feel a little jealous, watching them post selfies and pictures of whatever it was they did - a selfie with an alien client, a party, their latest boyfriend or girlfriend - and I couldn't do any of that. -One selfie would raise a ton of eyebrows, as it's not exactly normal for someone to have golden eyes and honeycombed skin without any explanation.

Hell, I'd even have JULIAN pretend to be me sometimes, posting fake info and fake photos to give me a 'false life' for them, to dissuade any suspicion. Far as they knew, I was a typical ADVENT soldier who just got shipped out to one of the American legions.

It pained me a little, having to lie to them. A small part of me wished that one day, I could tell them who I'd really become. I knew that day may never come - I could die, they all could die, so many morbid yet real possibilities. But it was a sacrifice I had to make, and I accepted it.

And hey, I had _plenty_ of friends here. Granted, all of them a bit older than me (in some cases, centuries older, but who's counting?) who would give me looks whenever I made a pop culture reference or showed them a meme they were too out of touch to understand - but we were friends because of so much more. Fighting aliens, kicking ass, our experiences, our goals, our...well, our camaraderie, really.

Whether it was the stupid jokes we told, our stories about where we came from, our families, what we wanted in the future- there was something about it that, in the end, felt wholesome.

I know - one wouldn't think the words "wholesome" and "XCOM" could go together, but lo and behold, they did.

In a way, it felt like one of those YA books I read- they were a sort of guilty pleasure for me. It was ironic just how similar my case was: teenage girl finds out she has some kind of power or skill, joins a movement to defeat an evil government, and so on.

Of course, there were some obvious differences, like none of those stupid love triangles where two guys fawned over me for some stupid, contrived reason, or me being an overpowered superhero right out of the gate.

But that was all fake, written by authors who just wanted to tell a story. Much as it seemed, I was quite real. But I was fine with that. For all the shit I had to worry about - dying, losing others - while the worry was still there, I made damn sure to never forget what Bronis told me.

_Dawn, what you need to understand is that it's not just victories left and right here. Here, things can get ugly. Things_ _**will** _ _get ugly. And there is a very good chance things will get uglier. But that doesn't mean things'll stay that way forever. We_ _**will** _ _turn this war around, Dawn._

Words to live by indeed- and it sounded even cooler with his Russian accent. Kinda made me want to have an accent, besides the one I had. It was the stereotypical 'y'all' style southern accent, but it wasn't too thick. My comrades would occasionally poke fun at how I pronounced certain words, and my somewhat frequent usage of 'ain't'.

But it was all in the name of fun. We all poked fun at each other one way or another - it made the place feel more like a family.

And, in the end, for me at least, that made things a little easier.

Because in times like these, you had to treasure such things.

Because you never knew when you were going to lose them.

* * *

_Armory, Praesidium_

_7/17/17- 11:34 AM_

The simulation was over, and, I had to admit, it was pretty fun. Doing a live-fire sim in one of the open arenas was fun. We couldn't use the Dreamscape, as all the orbs had been allocated for the day, but it still had its moments.

I took off the helmet of my psi armor and hung it up in my designated locker space in the armory, right next to my gun. The locker was a neat little thing - you had to unlock it with a hand scanner, and it had your last name (and first initial) on it. Not to mention it had , and made a charming little beeping sound when you opened or closed it.

The Aurora armor was a beauty. I loved the slick, black look of the suit, with the XCOM logo slapped right on its chest. Like something you'd see in a sci-fi movie brought to life. It outdid the PRIEST armor in every way - looks, protection, durability, and, of course, the Cool Factor. Having some free physical and mental psionic shields was a massive bonus, too. The suit itself didn't feel clunky at all - once you put on the required undersuit, it fit like a dream - leg armor first, then the torso and arms, then, finally, the helmet, which looked like a pimped-out biker helmet with a green visor. The whole suit of armor was like a second skin. It supposedly weighed about 45 kilograms, but the gene mods made that added weight almost irrelevant.

The inside of the helmet was like something from a video game - you had a (admittedly minimal) HUD, with a map of allies and the immediate area. It ran diagnostics on your armor and weapon, displaying their condition. It even warned you if your Psi rifle was in danger of being damaged due to overfiring, which was really useful. On top of all of that, it watched your vitals, \ alerted you if any parts of your body got hit, and also had built-in toxin detectors, and even a Geiger counter to detect radiation.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say the whole getup would've looked like Power Ranger armor, but vastly more useful and practical overall.

I'd then have to strip down to my undersuit, which covered my entire body, save for my head. Protocol was to then go to a nearby locker room and put back on regular clothes, which I'd also stored in my locker. I watched as the others removed their armor, save for the MEC Pilot Wei Liuxian, who operated the Goliath MEC, and had, like Sierra, undergone MEC 2.0. I had to admit, I was jealous.

I was about to open my mouth when I felt something at the back of my mind. It felt... _odd_.

"Dawn, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Wei. I'm just...something's wrong."

She raised an eyebrow. "What-"

A klaxon alarm blared, causing me to jump a bit in surprise.

" _Attention. Attention. Enemies detected near the Praesidium. The Atlas Protocol is in effect immediately_."

"Drill?"

Wei nodded. "Go!"

I nodded, running out from the armory and looking for the guidance signs, remembering the e-mail I'd gotten a few days before. It was a bit lengthy, but, in short, it went something like this:

" _Because you're our only biopath, and you dying in a potential base attack would be a massive loss to us, your protocol is to haul your ass to the designated Gateway and wait for further instructions_."

I ran the instructions through in my head. _Run past the barracks and R &D,_ I chanted. _Haul ass to the designated gateway_. Which was, in this case, a gateway to one of XCOM's Firestorm bases, located just outside of Bocas del Toro, Panama.

 _Wait, stop_ - _don't think about that, Dawn!_ _Act like it's real!. If you don't take this shit seriously, you're gonna end up dead, no question. Move it!_

As I dashed for the room, countless other soldiers and scientists ran past me. Some soldiers were in armor, brandishing various weapons - I even noticed one carrying a Gamma Gun. All the scientists were going in the same direction I was, so I followed them. I felt out of place in the crowd, as I was the only one not wearing a science or engineering uniform.

I turned a corner, following the small crowd as we passed more science labs. I rarely ever came down here, as the only reason I had was to go see the Shoggoths in their not-so-natural habitat; cutting through here was a useful shortcut. The alarm kept blaring and blaring as I ran. They weren't anything like what I had at my school - then again, few things were, here.

As I moved, several contraptions dropped out of the ceiling or popped out of the floor. Some floor tiles near me shifted to reveal a laser turret, while what looked like a nanite launcher came out of the ceiling, scanning the area. Must be those traps. They sort of reminded me of what I could find on the attack on XCOM's _other_ base, the Citadel.

I made my way past the labs, hearing what sounded like an explosion a ways behind me. Part of me wanted to turn and look, but my better half told me to keep going. My heart was beating like a horse's as I was trying to simultaneously follow the herd of scientists and ignore the blaring of the alarms.

_Just get to the damn Gateway._

I finally made it to the Gateway room, feeling a bit winded. Since many of the others were taller than me, it was hard to find the proper Gateway. Reading up on the layout of the escape route was different than actually running through it amidst the chaos.

 _C'mon, damni_ _t!_ _Bocas Gateway_ _, where are you?_

"Dawn, over here!"

I turned my head, noticing Lily to my far left waving a hand. She stood out in her orange jumpsuit, with a bunch of tools strapped to her waist. I rushed over to her - we hadn't met up in a while, as we'd been busy with our respective jobs.

"Where're you going?" she called.

"Bocas. You?"

"Well, damn. I'm going there too. C'mon, it's over here. Follow me!"

I followed her to a Gateway which several people were entering. The Gateway officer looked at us and nodded - here, there was no need for ID.

The two of us went through the Gateway- which felt like going through one of Kunio's portals, oddly enough, and came out into a much smaller Gateway room, filled with some XCOM scientists and engineers, along with a surprised-looking Gateway officer. He looked at the two of us for a second, shook his head, and shut down the Gateway.

"Travelers are through, gate's shut down! No travel allowed back to XCOM until the drill is over!"

I turned to Lily as the Gateway shut down. "So...do we wait?"

She shrugged. "I guess. Hey, you ever seen a Firestorm before?"

I shook my head. "Can't say I have."

She grinned. "Follow me."

* * *

_Five Minutes Later_

We stood in the hangar, looking at the pilotless Firestorm, sitting there, waiting to be used.

"So your dad built this?"

She nodded happily. "Well, designed, but yeah. Pretty neat, isn't it?"

I ran a hand along its left wing, looking at the sleek, picturesque silver surface. She was wrong. It wasn't just _neat,_ it was a goddamned work of art. I hadn't paid much attention to them in the media I'd watched, but, damn if it didn't look majestic.

"It's pretty big. Must have a lot of weapons."

She chuckled. "Oh, you have no idea. Dad always was creative. He put all the passion he could into his work, and then some."

"No doubt about it. I'm sure he'd be proud of what you've done here for XCOM. The SPARKs speak for themselves."

She smiled. "Thanks, Dawn."

I had an idea. "Tell me something, Lily," I said, with a sudden grin.

"Uh, sure."

"Do you think you could jump over this thing?"

She raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?"

My grin widened"Watch this. Might want to step back."

"Ooookay….."

I moved backwards, walking away from the Firestorm until I was a few meters away, bending my legs like a track runner before taking off running towards the aircraft. One of my more favorite activities while exercising here was to see just how much my body could do with MELD in it- and one of those was inhuman levels of jumping.

"Dawn, watch out-"

When I was close enough to it, I jumped, throwing myself into the air as my enhanced muscles propelled me over the craft, landing on the other side feet-first, like a cat, feeling the adrenaline rush through me. I hit the ground with a _thump_ and stood up. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Show-off."

"Says the person who makes killer robots."

"Says the space mage who can control minds."

"Heh. Fair enough."

We stood in silence for a few minutes, simply just staring at the inert Firestorm.

"I, um...I'm sorry about your dad."

"Thanks," she said. "It's been hard, but I'll avenge him eventually. Best I can do is keep working here, making new inventions to help XCOM win. Who knows, maybe one of them will kill Patricia one day."

"You're smart, Lily. Much smarter than me. I have no doubt you'll come up with something."

She looked at me. "Not really, no."

"Huh?"

"Let me explain what I mean, Dawn," she said, lifting a hand. "Yes, when it comes to mechanics and engineering and such, yes. I am smarter than you in that field. However, in _your_ field of psionics, you're far more knowledgeable than me. So, while it's true that I'm smarter than you in some cases, you're also smarter than me in other cases. It balances out. I'm not a psion. Hell, I don't even know if I'd be a good psion. I don't know anything about melting cells or controlling minds."

"Lily, there's not really such a thing as a bad psion in XCOM," I told her. "Any psion can be effective somehow, no matter how high or low their Trask Level is. It's all about committing time to it and improving, just like what you do, just applied differently. Where engineers brainstorm and draw up designs, us psions experiment with our minds and what they can do. Same thing with shooting - you practice and try to get better with every shot. It's all about improvement at the end of the day."

She considered what I said for a moment. "What's it like, talking to Aegis and Caelior on a daily basis? There are some aliens in engineering who are nice, but I've rarely spoken to our resident Ethereals."

"They're pretty nice," I said, smiling. "First glance, they might come off as intimidating, but they're cool. You can learn a lot from them, too. You'd be surprised at the shit they've seen. I'm very good friends with Caelior. Want to meet him sometime?"

She waved off the question. "Nah, I'm good. Listening to Andromedons bicker about design flaws is enough for me. I-"

Our phones buzzed simultaneously.

"Oh, drill's over. Time to go back." I checked my messages, putting my phone back in my pocket. "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Nah, I'm good. I have work to do. See you later, Dawn."

"See you, Lily."

I followed her back through the Gateway, where I parted ways with her to go back to the barracks. Armored soldiers and staff were rushing to and fro, seemingly finished with whatever had happened.

Better ask my bunkmates later what _actually_ happened.

I stopped by the armory to change back into normal fatigues. Much as I liked wearing the armor, you really couldn't walk around casually in it. I went back to the eerily empty barracks and went to the shared fridge, pulling out leftovers from yesterday and climbing into bed, stripping off my boots and socks and changing into more casual wear before digging in.

One thing I loved about the barracks was the somewhat relaxed dress code- if you could even really call it that. While you could wear 'casual' clothes everywhere, fatigues were preferred - and I couldn't exactly walk around the Praesidium in a t-shirt and shorts while barefoot - god forbid in my pajamas. _Ha!_ The thought of that was kinda funny. While I loved the look and feel of the fatigues and boots they gave us, wearing them constantly got old after a while.

Not to say they had just _those_ for us to wear. XCOM had a lot of clothing provided for us, more than one would think - swimsuits, socks, sweatshirts, underwear, caps; the list went on, and all you had to do was ask for it in your barracks requisition terminal. I, myself, was a fan of the XCOM sweater, akin to what the previous Central Officer wore.

What was his name again? Bradford or something? I'd have to ask Iosif next time.

On the other hand, I had my presentation with the Commander tomorrow.

Hopefully I'd do fine in front of the man himself.

* * *

_Dreamscape_

_7/18/17- 11:05 AM_

_Calm down, Dawn, you're going to do fine._

_All you have to do is present your progress in a skill that literally no other Human has done yet to quite possibly one of the most important men in all of Human history._

_No pressure._

I twiddled my fingers, anxiously waiting for the Commander to show up. I'd already set up a few objects for the Commander, like some aliens with highlighted organs and such, along with pieces of information from Sana's logs that T'Leth projected from my mind into the Dreamscape.

It wasn't a slideshow, but it was something.

The Commander appeared a moment later, in his uniform. I stood at attention, withholding my salute.

"Good morning, sir," I began. "I'm pleased you took the time out of your day for this."

"Well, it's standard procedure for us to observe our soldier's training," he said. "Since you're unique in a couple ways, something like this is necessary. Besides, I always have time for XCOM's resident Biopath."

I smiled. "Much appreciated, sir. Is there, uh, anything you want me to do before we start?"

He waved a dismissive hand, appraising me carefully. "No. Begin when ready."

"Alright." I took in a deep breath, before letting it out.

_You're gonna do great._

"So, starting out, alongside my current telepathic training with Geist and Aegis, I've also been using a lot of data from Sana'Ligna - especially papers she wrote with recordings of speeches. Let me tell you sir, hearing her voice over and over again gets annoying _real fast_. But...I learned a few things."

"Explain."

"Biopathy is all about scale, Commander. Going from controlling minds to controlling the building blocks of life ain't easy - it makes you look at the world from a whole point of view. For me, no exception. When I got here and started reading all those files, I saw Mortis melt all those cultists completely and I thought 'I'll never be able to do that'. But as I did more work, I began to realize that I didn't have to do just that."

"Do what?"

"Completely melt the target." I explained. "Yes, I theoretically _could_ melt someone down to nothing. But that'd be a waste of time and energy. Focusing on so much _could_ work, yeah. But you don't have to kill all of the body to kill someone. You only have to target one or two parts, like the head when I did it for the first time."

The Commander seemed to agree. "Geist told me something similar. I believe he mentioned you targeting the spine and arteries of a target?"

"That's right, sir. However, the issue with that is that the conditions required are a little too specific." With a flick of a hand, I had T'Leth replay me killing the Dragon, complete with the grand firework show that were her arteries exploding. The small grin on the Commander's face made my day. Once she had died, he turned to me.

"Surgical targeting then. Good."

"That's correct."

"Does that pose a different challenge?"

"Well, that's the fun part." I tapped the right side of my head. "Aegis was kind enough to transfer anatomical charts of Collective species into my head, which saved me _tons_ of time studying. When I see a target, I just sift through my mind to that diagram, imagine that body part, and _volia_."

"And cells?"

"Well, that's the odd part - you can thank high school biology for that one."

He raised an eyebrow. "Could you elaborate on that?"

"Sure! So, long story short, I was actually _horrible_ in biology and chemistry in high school. Just wasn't my thing, really. But when it comes to cells, I really liked the pictures in the textbooks. Especially this one cell picture. So, imagine my luck that I decided to try out said picture when training with Geist . I just imagined that cell, but multiplied by a lot. And again, it worked!"

Did I seem too enthusiastic? Maybe a _little_ too much. He didn't seem to have an issue with it, though.

"So you rely on visualization, then?"

I nodded enthusiastically. _C'mon, keep selling it to him._ "It sounds weird, but for telepaths, you'd be surprised with what we visualize to help us."

"I am well aware. My wife is a telepath."

"I apologize-"

"No need. You were simply explaining your strategy."

"Very well," I coughed. "My current battlefield strategy has been focusing on the head, like I did when I performed biopathy for the first time. I tend to leave some of the more, shall we say _experimental_ practices in the Dreamscape, since it relies on too many factors to be workable in real life."

"Understandable. What do you plan on working with next?"

"I'm glad you asked." With a clap of my hands, a diagram of several Collective aliens popped up. "I've been considering working on targeting the brain, and other vulnerable parts of the head. If you sever the head, the snake can't bite you. I know Collective medical technology is advanced, but they sure as hell can't replace someone's brain. I've also thought about extending my biopathy to multiple targets, but that's a long way off. Right now, it's a one-and-done policy."

I sighed. "Kinda wish I had an aura like Mortis. I know it's not feasible, but it'd make things a hell of a lot easier."

The Commander unexpectedly smiled. "That is something that could change. We're working on something that might help with that."

My heart almost skipped a beat as my eyebrows shot up. "Say what now? You mean..."

"It's a work in progress, but you'll be informed when it's ready for use," he said. "Now, what were you going to say next?"

The back-and-forth continued for about several more minutes, until I concluded it, giving him the floor.

The Commander finally finished. "I'm impressed. You've put a lot of work into this, and with your current track record, you've been a valuable asset so far to us. I'm glad you're putting time and effort into improving your capabilities. I'll look over the data again, but...excellent work, Dawn."

"Music to my ears, Commander. I'm glad."

He nodded. "One more thing, Dawn."

"Yes?"

"I have your next mission assignment for you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Thank you, but...don't I usually get assignments through email?"

"That would be standard, but you're here, and I see no reason to wait," he said. "It won't happen for several days, but no reason to not prepare."

"I understand, sir. What is it?"

"You, along with Kunio, will be working with the Chronicler on a mission to Antarctica."

Now _that_ peaked my interest. Working with the Chronicler of all people, eh?

He continued. "You'll learn more in the briefing. For now - you've done well. I look forward to what you do next."

"Uh, I think I had a test with Geist-"

"I've talked to him about it. It'll be postponed due to the mission."

I nodded. "Thank you, sir. If I must be honest, one of my worries before I got here was the workload. I was pretty scared of constantly messing up and having issues with motivation, but well…" I spread out my arms. "All I had to do was follow the formula. And act a bit outside of the box. Kind of does get annoying having to listen to Sana's voice over and over."

"I can see that. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

"Well...there is one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I remembered our last conversation. About Patricia and what motivates me."

"Yes. What about it?"

"I've been thinking about it, and I've realized something."

He nodded. "And that would be?"

My shoulders slumped. "Pretty much every motivation for myself I could come up could be twisted in some way."

He raised an eyebrow. "Can you elaborate?"

I nodded. "For example, protecting the Earth, XCOM's goal. Impy or some other Ethereal could twist it into 'protecting Earth from the evil Sovereigns like T'Leth'. Want to stop the Collective? Could be twisted into seeing the Collective as some kind of false paradise and make ADVENT look like the 'bad guy'. Want to stop the Ethereals? Could be turned as 'oh, the ones you killed were the _bad ones_ \- the real _good guys_ aren't so bad. Want to use my biopathy for good? Brainwash me and plop me in front of Mortis and be like 'Here, _this guy_ knows all about biopathy! Listen to _him_ and you'll become more powerful than you ever imagined!'" I shook my head. "I feel like I'm overthinking it, honestly."

He scratched his chin. "So you're concerned that your wants and drives could all be manipulated negatively?"

"I guess so. I _want_ to be in XCOM. I _want_ to protect Earth. I _want_ to protect humanity. The issue is that I'm young and more easily manipulated, and I have so many reasons flying around in my head that if I got captured, they could twist me. Not that my Restraints would let that happen but…it's been in the back of my head for a while now."

He nodded. "I see. There is something to realize about this, Dawn. That is true for anyone. Anything that personally drives you, that motivates you, it can be turned against you. No matter what, this is a reality that you will never escape. You will never have an incorruptible motive. You will never have the perfect drive or goal. It can always be turned against you. This is normal thought, but it's not an inherent problem."

There was a brief pause. "What _is_ important is realizing this. There are many, many people who are otherwise intelligent who nonetheless can be warped to betray that which they once firmly believed in. Patricia was one of the smartest women I know - and still is. That didn't make her immune to being turned, and in such a way as that she won't come back." He briefly trailed off.

"Patricia ultimately believed that she could not be turned or manipulated, so when it was happening, she didn't see it, or dismissed it. You…" he laced his fingers together. "In a way, you are the opposite. You are almost _too_ worried about what might happen, how you could be turned. While this is admirable, don't become discouraged from this realization. Understanding yourself is important - and you're more aware than most people about the good and the bad within you. Most important - you want to resist becoming something you are not. That is good, but do not let it become your driving factor, because that also becomes a weakness. Do you understand?"

"I do. It's true that I do worry a lot- maybe too much, as you said. I'm gonna talk to Yates about this; I'm sure she can help. I really appreciate what you said, but I just can't stop thinking about it sometimes. I know I have Restraints. I know I have protections. I'm going to work on it. I just thought you should know about it, sir."

He nodded again. "If you do, then you have little to worry about. Be aware - but not obsessive. I have faith you'll do this well - while I've not had a teenager under my command before, you've handled yourself well, and I expect you to continue to do so."

"I...thank you, sir." I blushed slightly. "Again, I appreciate XCOM giving me this chance."

"And we're grateful for you accepting our offer." He glanced to the side. "Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to continue this conversation, I have other business to attend to. Again, excellent work on the a good day, Dawn."

He departed a moment later, leaving me alone in T'Leth's void.

That was enough Dreamscape for the day. I had a mission coming up, and I had to be ready.

But...what did he mean by that aura comment?

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_7/21/17- 7:05 PM_

_Allegiance._

_Such an odd thing, that is._

_When I was born, I grew up like many Americans did - I pledged allegiance to the flag, the Stars and Stripes, the eagle, and the dollar. I didn't really consider myself that much of a political person, though if I had to pick, the term 'progressive' would probably be best. I liked my country a lot; I liked the people, I liked the sights, I liked the culture, and I liked the government...well, mostly, anyway._

_That was, until ADVENT came along._

_I don't think anyone suspected that something like ADVENT would ever happen - though you could say that about almost anything that happens today, considering the situation. When America became part of the iron fist of ADVENT, I had my doubts about it. It seemed...almost too perfect. The seemingly authoritarian nature of it gave me some chills. Although I was pleased at what it did both at home and against the aliens, there was a part of me that was suspicious of it that just never really died. How does such a government just come into existence like that?_

_It is impossible - well, was impossible. The only logical answer would've been that it was preparing all along, out of the public eye, waiting for the time to come when the clock struck midnight and humanity needed it most. But as my friends and family did on that school day, just before graduation, we all stood up and said ADVENT's pledge, putting fists over our hearts and swearing allegiance to a government we didn't know all that well just yet, but were told that we needed it, that it was our best chance against the aliens. So, we did, as one does, and swore ourselves to it._

_And, as I did with America before, I swore loyalty to it._

_ADVENT wasn't just America, of course - it became the entire unoccupied world - with a few exceptions, of course. I was no longer a citizen of just one country, but of the world, and a true world government. I cheered on our troops as they scored victory after victory, earning the name of the deadliest military force in mankind's history._

_Well, one of them, anyway. Can't forget about XCOM, can we?_

_When I became a PRIEST and awakened my potential, I saw no reason to doubt ADVENT, and I still don't to this day. I thought ADVENT was going to be the end-all-be-all of humanity, the best we could do. I'll admit, my young mind was being shaped by the propaganda they fed us, but...really, whose wasn't?_

_Then I joined XCOM, and my allegiance changed once again - this time for the last time._

_This time, I did not swear allegiance to the eagle, nor black and red flag of ADVENT. I did not swear myself to a country or an ideology, but rather something more._

_XCOM - the brainchild of a now-dead Council, but the personification of an idea. A simple idea, in fact. The concept of protecting humanity, at any cost, from anyone._

_Alien or human._

_And as I stayed here, I began to feel more connected to XCOM- more trusting. The information and explanations they provided were more than enough for me. They answered the questions I had, filling the holes in ADVENT's story. To fight the monsters of the Ethereal Collective that humanity feared, XCOM created monsters of their own for the Collective to fear- us. Gene modded soldiers, given technology and gifts hundreds of years past what we used only a few years ago. I pledged my loyalty the day I got here, and I see XCOM now as my new family._

_Yet...something bothers me._

_I know I am young - my mind in particular. The human brain stops developing around age 25; there's no doubt my young and impressionable mind has been melded by ADVENT and XCOM to be loyal, and I am fine with that._

_Yet now, as part of XCOM, I am in a way no longer a part of ADVENT, rather an ally of ADVENT. I work with them, and I will help them achieve their means._

_Yet I am afraid my choices of allegiance shows a weakness in me - my mind._

_In many people's eyes, I'm a child, and children's minds are easily malleable. Looking back, I'm glad ADVENT got their hands on me before the Collective did. I fear if the Collective had found who - no, what I was, and taken me before I got my Restraints, they would have easily taken advantage of me and turned me. I'm not going to delude myself and say I could've resisted the influence of the Imperator or any other Ethereal. The hypothetical picture of me wearing one of those godforsaken masks, calling myself that stupid 'Harbinger' title, and killing ADVENT and XCOM soldiers is one I would scoff at - but at the same time, is chilling._

_I am a soldier. I am a tool. I am a weapon. And a weapon only works when the right person is using it._

_I may be a fool, I may be young and dumb, but I am not a slave to my darker side, one which could easily be used to turn me._

_...Right?_

_But I know one thing._

_That if I was ever taken, my mind warped to serve the Collective, I would take my own life. I could not do that to my family - to have their little girl turned into the villain of her own story, slaved to an Ethereal. I have no doubt that it would be Mortis whose Avatar I would become in this hypothetical situation; but they cannot turn me now, as the Restraints would blow my brains out before they could even go that far._

_I judge the Avatars for being weak, giving in to the Ethereals for their own needs. But I realize that it could happen to anyone. Because all you need to turn someone is to tell them what you want them to hear - promise them their dreams, and make the price they pay for it seem negligible. In a way, everyone is a puppet, be it to their own emotions, drive, or someone else's'. Everyone has a string or two you can pull to make them do something. Everyone has something that drives them that you can make good for your own use._

_I have no doubt XCOM and ADVENT have done that to some extent, and for my own sake, I'm more than happy with it. I'm just happy they got to me first before the Collective._

_But I have no doubt these faceless soldiers, hiding behind masks, will pay eventually. History is not kind to traitors, and they are no exception._

_So what is allegiance, to me? Is it me just swearing myself to whatever power presents itself? Is it a means to appeal to my ideas and my wants? Is it my desire to accomplish something?_

I shook my head. So many thoughts, and so many ways to express it.

Yet I felt all the paper in the world couldn't fit them.

Definitely telling this shit to Yates next time I see her.

_I can't deny I'm proud to be here. Much as I hate to say it, it fulfills many of the power fantasies in my life from all those books I read. I said it before, and I'll say it again - some days I feel like a character ripped straight out of a YA novel._

_Thankfully, the people in this reality are vastly better at their jobs._

I cracked my knuckles, closing the tab. That was enough for today. I wouldn't call it _venting_ , more of just putting my thoughts on paper.

There was a lot more to think about right now, though.

Time to get some rest, then.

I had a trip to Antarctica soon.

* * *

_Situation Room, the Praesidium_

_7/23/2017 – 12:22 P.M._

Well, this was it- the biggest gig I had yet.

There were a lot more people going on this mission than Malabo, and more psions too - Geist and the Chronicler among them. Kunio was here too, which made me safer: I had my best friend and teacher here, and if anything were to happen to me, I felt safe already knowing they were here to protect me.

Plus, it's always nice to have T'Leth's right-hand-man with you, too.

Let's see - besides Geist and Kunio, there was Rosario, Bryanna from Malabo, Wuhan (named after the city, I guess), Kura, and Rhonda. Rhonda stood out from the rest in that she was a Shoggoth Handler, and as such had the job of training XCOM's tentacle monsters and unleashing them onto the enemy.

But, I had to admit, they were just so darn _cute_ sometimes. Of course that meant, ignoring their ability to squish you to death in untold ways, but they were trained to not attack us, which was nice. Plus, that thrilling sound. I understood why a lot of people here would find it unnerving or downright creepy, but for me, it sounded similar to a little puppy's whine when it was hungry or something.

Kinda reminded me of the Saint Bernard I had when I was a kid.

Fuck, I missed that dog.

The Commander waited until everyone had gotten here before beginning. I'd gotten here early just in case. The Chronicler had spoken to me briefly before the rest got here, asking if I felt alright. His voice had felt...reassuring at best, if not comforting. I could see why he kept his 'old man look'; it made him seem more approachable.

"This operation is going to be a specialized one, Arthur Squad. Short version, you're going to be penetrating the Bastion, and for those who don't know, that's the old EXALT headquarters in Antarctica. It was abandoned by EXALT shortly before the war began, as it was isolated and vulnerable to Collective attack."

_Arthur Squad, huh? Wonder why we're called that. You don't think-?_

Geist, being the direct person he was, asked the first question. "Is it a high-valued target?"

The Commander shook his head. "Not to our knowledge. Chronicler?"

"EXALT had control of more artifacts than they realized," the Agent said. "There is a significant portion of history even they were unaware of, the relics of which I made a point to preserve. The Bastion held valuable art, sculptures, pieces of history that EXALT wanted preserved – but at the end of the day, they were of little practical use. What they did not know was that not all of the supposed pieces were simply for show."

_Oooh. More twists. Where's this going, Chronicler?_

"Meaning…?" Bryanna prodded.

"Swords made out of a more refined alien metal than the Collective alloys," the Chronicler began. "But the main relic we are going to recover is a nanite producer that is capable of significantly augmenting ordinary Humans. It has significant healing properties, and is alien in origin."

"In _origin_?" Kunio noted. "Like…before the Collective?"

A sharp nod. "That is correct, Kunio. You are familiar with the so-called Outsider Incident, but even that was not the first time alien influence has reached our planet. Their relics have existed throughout history in various forms. What are referred to as legends are more real than we believe. As far as this artifact goes – it is better known as the Holy Grail."

 _What the actual_ _ **fuck**_ _, Chronicler?_ I knew XCOM would be full of surprises, but _this?_ I raised an eyebrow in a mix of surprise and intrigue, opening my mouth to say something, but closing it. I knew the Chronicler was really old - centuries old at the very least, and he'd seen a lot of human history. Who wasn't to say that other artifacts I'd studied in school were some kind of weapon or tool used by a race far older than mine?

 _How much of this shit was right in front of my eyes this whole time, waiting to be uncovered?_ I didn't want to go all tinfoil hat on this subject, but I'd be lying to myself if I thought it wasn't appealing.

_Makes you wonder. But why haven't we gotten this earlier, then?_

"Sorry," Rhonda coughed, as she patted her Shoggoth. "You mean _the_ Holy Grail?"

"Unless there was another one, yes," the Chronicler said dryly. "No, it does not have magical properties. No, it is not divine. Yes, it did exist, and yes, it was capable of performing miraculous feats at the time. The same can be said for certain other religious artifacts – but that is a topic for another day."

_What next, is the Ark of the Covenant real? What are we gonna do, shove it in the Battlemaster's face and melt him Indiana Jones style?_

"Oh no," Rosario said. "You can't just say that and change the subject."

"Enough," Geist said sharply. "You will have time to ask your questions upon the conclusion of the operation. We have been given our objective, focus on that. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Overseer!"

While it annoyed me a little bit that Geist shut down Rosario's comment, I understood why. Time was of the essence here, and if the Collective got their hands on that stuff, it'd be nothing but bad news. The Ethereals were crafty bastards - and something told me that Fectorian could probably turn that into some kind of horrifying weapon, given the chance.

"A relevant question then," Kunio said. "Are we sure it's still there? If the Collective is in the Bastion, they would have taken it, yes?"

_Thanks for asking for me, Kunio._

"Unknown," the Chronicler said. "There was no indication they would have found it, and they have little interest in our culture, art, or artifacts. Even EXALT knew nothing. While it is possible that the Collective found it, I find it unlikely, else they would have employed it before now. However, we are conducting this operation as much to deny it to the Collective as to use it for us. I do not want to consider what the Collective could do with it if they applied it to the Mutons."

Geist seemed to consider that for a moment. "I am surprised it was left behind if it was so valuable."

The Chronicler's face soured. "An oversight on my part. I was occupied with the annexation of Australia at the time."

_Ah._

"While we do not know if the Collective has maintained a garrison at the Bastion, we are making that assumption," the Commander said. "I'd prefer not to draw attention, but if there are aliens there, terminate them. The Chronicler will ensure that you don't set off any of the traps left unsprung. This is also in Antarctica – I would prepare yourself for the cold."

"We are intending to carry this out soon," the Chronicler said. "Tonight, in fact. You will have several hours to prepare. We do not expect this mission to take long, but we do not know what to expect."

"Good luck," the Commander said. "Dismissed."

I followed everyone, being the last one to leave the room. I almost wanted to stay and ask more questions, but I knew that wasn't the time. As much as I wanted to know more, my better half told me to be quiet.

But compared to Malabo, this seemed so different.

Malabo was simple - secure a target, and kill anything in my way. Here, while the broad goal was the same, the actual _thing_ we needed was quite different. It wasn't just a Gateway or some Collective big shot - it was the fucking _Holy Grail_.

While I wasn't Christian myself, I couldn't help but snort at how my Christian friends would react to hearing that not only was the Holy Grail _real_ , but also of alien origin of all things.

But I had more important things to worry about. I'd probably go take a nap, as I doubted I'd be getting a lot of sleep tonight. No rest for the wicked, I suppose.

Then again, what's one night of sleep to saving the world?

"You alright?"

I turned around, noticing Kunio had stopped walking, looking at me. "You seemed a little worried back there."

I shrugged, leaning against the wall. "I guess. I don't know why, but this one seems more serious than my other missions. This'll be my third one, or my second really."

Even though I hadn't participated in the actual taking of the Hiveship, I felt like I'd earned enough participation points with helping Caelior to give myself enough credit.

Kunio frowned. "Is it because of the Chronicler?"

"I guess - though since Geist is here, kinda makes me afraid of messing up in front of one of my teachers - or someone so important in XCOM like the Chronicler, I guess."

"Hey." He patted me on the shoulder. "You'll do fine. If anything goes wrong, we've got T'Leth's strongest Agents here. And I'll be here, too. They wouldn't have put you on this mission if they didn't feel you were good enough. If anything happens to you, I'll help you out. Okay?"

I looked at him, right in the eyes. I didn't need to be a telepath to tell he meant every single one of those words with absolutely no malice whatsoever. His words _meant_ something, and they really felt like he cared.

"I understand Kunio, but when the Chronicler's been in combat before, things have gotten really serious. Remember that Austrailia fight where fucking _Quisilia_ intervened to try and stop him?" I sighed and rubbed my eyes with a hand. "Who's to say they don't send an Ethereal or one of their puppets to deal with this mission when they find out the Chronicler's leading this operation? Right now, I can do absolute jack shit against either kind of opponent! I can kill trash mobs easily, sure, but an _Ethereal?_ Best I can do is annoy them and hope they don't decide to come after me!"

He pursed his lips. "I get it, Dawn. Unexpected things happen. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how my first mission went, but in XCOM, there aren't any guarantees. We do what we do for a reason - we do dangerous jobs ADVENT can't or won't, and that's just scratching the surface." He shook his head. "Dawn, I can't give you any guarantees, but I can tell you this. If anything happens to you…" He offered a hand, an outstretched palm. "If anything happens to you, I promise you I'm going to do my damned best to make sure you come out alright. Okay?"

I looked at his hand, then his face. Again - he meant every single word. He spoke like a friend, but at the same time like a father-figure type. Sure, he was only in his twenties, but the way he talked around me was similar to that of a 'cool uncle' type, one you could hang out with and tell secrets to.

I gulped. "But what if I don't come back?" I said quietly. "It could happen to any of us."

He looked at the floor for a minute. "If that does happen, then I promise you that me, Fiona, and the rest of XCOM will find whoever does and make them pay with their life. Dearly. And I'll remember you, okay? I'll keep that picture you gave me forever, and I'm not going to let it go. Ever."

I took his hand. "Then that's good enough for me. And...if that ever happens to you, I'll do the same. I promise."

He smiled, nodding. "It's a deal, then"

"It's a deal, Kunio." I let go of his hand. "So, what now?"

"Want to get something to eat? Heard the chef's making a killer stew."

"Sure!"

Let it be known to never go on a mission on an empty stomach.

But as we walked to eat, I couldn't get his words out of my head. Yet they reminded me of why XCOM was so good in the first place. It wasn't the armor, it wasn't the weapons - it was each other.

And that? Well, that wasn't something I was going to forget anytime soon.

* * *

_Armory, the Praesidium_

_Ten Hours Later_

We all stood in our respective armors, weapons out, standing by for the Chronicler to transport us. He stood in the middle of our group, putting on his helmet.

_And here we go. Dawn Conley and the Last Crusade, let's go!_

"Everyone ready?"

We all nodded. His left hand glowed blue, and the world around us flashed blue.

And only a blink of an eye later, we'd gone from the Praesidium to Antarctica.

The first thing that hit me was the cold - my god, was it _cold_. I knew that my augmentations and armor protected me, but I still began to shiver. I gripped my gun and gritted my teeth, trying to keep them from chattering. The fortress in front of me almost immediately caught my eye: it looked like a stereotypical bad-guy fortress, towering over us, lined with various turrets and no noticeable entrances.

_Why didn't he teleport us_ _**inside** _ _of the ex-Illuminati fortress again?_

"You guys really went all out," Wuhan said through chattered teeth. "I'm surprised no satellite ever picked this up."

The Chronicler's helmet turned to face the soldier. "And who do you think was the one making the satellites?"

"Fair point," he looked closer at the fortress. "So how are we going to enter? You couldn't have teleported us inside?"

"I could have, but it was entirely possible we would have instantly exploded," the Chronicler said, with some condescension as he stepped forward, snow crunching under his boots. "The fact that we are not before ruins is a good sign. It means the penetration was minimal."

"Or they managed to disarm the traps," Geist suggested.

"Perhaps," the Chronicler conceded. "I do not sense anyone alive. If there is anything here, it will be mechanical. This is good, less of a chance of reinforcements."

"As you were saying," Kunio said. "How are we going to enter?"

"Follow me."

The Chronicler turned on a heel and walked away from the fortress, heading towards a random pile of snow. The howling blizzard around us was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Sure, we'd have snow in Tennessee, enough to give us a few snow days and some sledding opportunities, but _this?_ This was insane!

Nopenguins, though. Always wanted to see some of those guys in their natural environment.

The Chronicler stopped in front of the snow dune, and waved a hand, sweeping back the snow and revealing a hidden door, which he opened with a flick of his wrist.

"Good. They didn't seem to find it."

"You had a secret entrance?" I asked. "Built _away_ from the base?"

"I prefer being prepared," he said as we entered. "While unlikely, I knew there needed to be a way only I could enter – or leave, if it became necessary. As it turns out, it has finally become useful. There will be some walking, but we will end up exactly where we want to be."

The first room we entered was close to the hatch – clearly a bunker of some kind if the Chronicler ever had to lay low. There was a bed, clothes, canned food, and other things I'd expect from someone paranoid enough to make his own escape hatch It gave me fallout shelter vibes. It was a bit weird though, as his ability to teleport made the hatch seem kinda worthless.

But hey, it felt much warmer in here. That was a bonus if nothing else.

"How old is this place?" Rhonda asked as we walked through the creepy hallways. If we weren't on a mission, I'd think it was some kind of high-budget haunted house experience.

"This facility proper?" The Chronicler considered that. "Young, by modern standards. Slightly more than a half century. Previous headquarters rotated between other isolated and controlled places. The Alps, central Africa, the Amazon at one point, usually very elaborate and difficult to detect."

"Sometimes, you have to explain the Amazon," Rosario said. "So there's old EXALT bases all around the world?"

"In various states of decommissioning, but yes…" the Chronicler's voice had an odd note in it. "Along with…other, less savory places."

_The Amazon? Alps? Sign me up, that sounds cool!_

It felt surreal for this guy to just be talking about so much of this stuff so _casually_. It felt like every day in XCOM my worldview was either expanded or flipped on its head in some new way. I felt like a kid going to a museum and gawking at all the exhibits. Sure, knowing the Illuminati was real was one thing, but hearing and listening to it for real was another.

_What else is there that he's not telling us?_

_Eh, not for me to judge._

_Next he'll be telling me that alien fuckery was involved in King Arthur mythology, or that Thor was real and was actually some kind of alien who could_ _**actually** _ _control and use lighting, like being a nanokine or something._

We arrived at the end of the hallway, and Geist told us to take up positions. He and Rosario took up positions at the front of the door, and the rest of us aimed our guns at the entrance. I didn't detect any enemies, though.

_Weird...it's too quiet._

I leaned over to Kunio. "Not picking up any bad guys," I whispered. "It feels quiet, almost too quiet."

"It'll be alright."

Kunio looked back at her through his helmet. "It'll be alright."

The Chronicler inputted a code onto the keypad. "Is that even still going to work?" Kura asked. "The power is out."

"Local power source, and EMP hardened," the Chronicler said as he worked. "Looks dead, but is an illusion. We never wanted to be in a position where we were trapped and locked in by our own devices. You have to shoot the consoles to actually disable them."

"Clever," Geist nodded. "Though this is just the lock."

"Yes," the Chronicler stepped back as the keypad flashed green. "The mechanics are disabled. Though little issue." He waved his hand, and the door slid open with a slick motion. "Listen close, and watch your step."

_Traps?_

Unlike the outside, there was damage here. The walls were cracked, with some parts completely destroyed. Dried splatters of yellow blood littered the floor - guess some aliens weren't careful. I stuck close behind Kunio, just in case.

"Looks like they tripped the explosives," the Chronicler said, looking around. "Almost all of them. Clumsy."

"You only had explosives?" Rhonda asked as they carefully walked forward as a group, weapons pointed in all directions.

A snort. "No. The explosives were first. Carbon monoxide followed, and I assume that killed off a fair portion. There were three different toxic dispensers that were established, all poison. Least observable first, ramping up to pure nerve gas. All the more irritating when each room was individually rigged."

He seemed to smile. "I do wonder how many died before they left."

_Well that didn't sound a bit sadistic at all._

"Carter, is there any mechanical unit detection?" Geist asked.

Bryanna briefly checked. "Nothing so far."

"Good," he nodded sharply. "Then forward."

We continued out of the hangar, and trekked through some more hallways. Still nothing on my 'mind-dar', as I comically referred to my telepathy as. The only sounds I heard were our footsteps and occasional drops of water, which made the place feel even more creepy, even with the lighting.

"This feels weird." I said aloud. "Feels like a trap - I'm not getting anything with my telepathy."

"Then they must have already left this place." The Chronicler commented. "Perhaps this will be easier than I thought."

From the tone of his voice, he seemed almost disappointed there wasn't anyone here to fight.

We eventually came to a locked bulkhead, which looked like it'd already been broken into. The Chronicler sighed, telekinetically opening the lock and moving through the door, which led us to another hallway that was lined with what looked like a series of locked doors.

_There has to be so much stuff in here. It's gotta be worth millions at least, if not billions._

The Chronicler led us to one of the doors, which he opened, and we followed him inside. When I walked in, I gasped, looking around the room. It was a borderline gold mine- literally and then some. Various jewels, rugs, rugs, and swords lind the wall. Even a few crowns were littered all over the place, and some old-looking painting were on display as well.

_It's a goddamned treasure room._

"We got lucky." The Chronicler spoke in a relieved tone. They appear to have overlooked everything. Grab the swords."

_Wait, I get a sword? Hell yea!_

I ran over to the rack on the wall,, sliding my gun onto my back and plucking a random sword off the wall. It felt a bit odd. I'd never held a real sword before, but it felt lighter than it should - and a bit warm, too.

_Is there a heat source or something in this? Could be nanomachines._

I swung it around like a pirate or knight, grinning like an idiot at the sweet, sweet _woosh!_ sound of it flying through the air. All I needed was an eyepatch, an annoying yet adorable parrot, and a tricorn hat and I was set for XCOM's yearly Halloween costume party. No one seemed to care about the teenager playing with the alien sword, so I did it again and again, feeling like a kid using pool noodles as weapons.

I heard the Chronicler and Rosario talking in the background, noticing he was holding a goblet. Must've been the Grail. I wanted to look at it, but he bagged it before I got a good luck at it.

_Aww. Guess I'll get a chance later._

I continued to inspect the sword, running my armored hand along the blade.

_What's this made of? I wonder if it could hurt the Battlemaster. Our Templars are gonna love these babies-_

A sword clattered to the ground behind me, catching my attention. Kunio was standing over it, gripping his head.

"What was…"

Wuhan quickly rushed over to him. "Are you ok?"

"I…think so," he said, nodding. "Don't pick up that sword."

The Chronicler walked over, and the weapon flew towards him, hovering in front of him, though he did not touch it. "It is clear they did not look closely. I am surprised this was overlooked."

"What is that?" Kunio asked.

"I mentioned there were other alien artifacts hidden to history," the Chronicler said. "This is one of them. You would likely recognize it as 'Excalibur'."

 _Oh you gotta be shitting me!_ "Like King Arthur."

"Yes, the very same," the Chronicler said. "Or…not. The legend was far different I believe than what happened. All I truly know is that a King called Arthur did exist – and was likely a psion who found this sword. It is psi-tech, you see, but alien. The research team will doubtless wish to look at this."

"Yeah, I'd think so," Kunio grunted, shaking his head to clear it of that weird vision. "Is that everything then?"

"I believe so," the Chronicler looked around. "It appears the Collective has abandoned this place entirely. Which means that if XCOM was so inclined, more expeditions could be done to remove everything of worth. If this is all the Collective took, then there are likely other artifacts and historical objects that can be released to ADVENT."

"I don't suppose you have the Ark of the Covenant lying around?" Bryanna asked jokingly.

"Not here," the Chronicler said in a half-serious tone. "I believe I left it in the Vatican."

"Who is Ansaldo?"

I turned around and saw Rosario standing next to one of the paintings. They seemed to be showing various events that were likely during EXALT's history, however the painting Rosario was pointed at was...different from the other ones. It seemed to display a massive stone temple, upon a desolate desert with rolling storm clouds above. It was both creepy and beautiful, giving me an ominous feel while at the same time captivating me.

"Ah," the Chronicler said, looking at the painting with that odd tone in his voice. "Let us say an...acquaintance." There was a pause, and he seemed to come to a decision. "Take it with us as well."

Kunio looked around, as, like me, the paintings had been one of the most interesting parts of this whole mission. "Any of the others, while we're at it?"

"If you can carry them," the Chronicler said. "But let us be quick about it."

I handed the Chronicler the sword, and looked around for a painting to catch my eye. I finally settled on one that featured…

"Chronicler," I said, pointing to the painting. "Is that Saudia Vyandar on that one?"

He nodded. "That was commissioned when she was elevated as Director of EXALT."

I ran over to the painting, careful taking it down from the wall. "Calling it!"

"Everyone, get close to me. I'm going to teleport us out of here."

_That was fast. What, under ten minutes?_

We all stood by him, and with another blue flash, we were back in the Praesidium.

"Excellent work, everyone. This technology will greatly help us in the fight against the Collective. You're all dismissed."

I set the painting down, leaning it on the wall so the Chronicler could come back for it. Everyone left to remove their armor, while the Chronicler departed to do...something. I shrugged, got out of my armor, and went to a changing room to get out of my undersuit, which I replaced with my fatigues that I'd left in my locker.

_That had to be the quickest mission ever. Was that a record or something? Had to be._

I wasn't disappointed, or even mad. If anything, I felt stupid for worrying about the mission so much. Here I was thinking it was going to be some kind of challenge or something.

I walked out of the changing room, putting my undersuit back in my locker.

"Well, that was a mission, huh?" Kunio was behind me, arms crossed. "Never thought I'd ever go to Antarctica, but it was something."

"I guess." I sighed. "Hey, at least we learned something, right?"

"Yep. Still, good job...I guess."

He smiled. "You too. Hey, at least you didn't get your brain scrambled by a magic sword."

I raised an eyebrow. "You feel alright, yeah? Shouldn't you go to the doctor or something?"

"Chronicler said I'll be fine, but I'll go to the doc and see if there's anything amiss." he had an amused gleam in his eye. "Noticed you were having some fun with that sword of yours."

I meekly laughed. "You saw that?"

"Don't worry, it looked like you were having fun."

"Sometimes you gotta make your own fun. Say, are you free this Thursday?"

"No. Why?"

"Oh, uh just wanted to know if you were free to do some swimming. But thanks anyway/"

He nodded. "Sorry Dawn, but duty calls. I'll try to do that another time. See you around."

"See you around."

As he walked away, I pulled out my phone, texting Caelior.

_You free Thursday? I have an idea..._

* * *

I walked back to the barracks and climbed back into bed, much to the surprise of my comrades.

"Dawn! You're back already?"

"Hey Vih. Yep, mission's over!"

She swore in Swedish. "You've been gone for what? Twenty minutes!"

I shrugged. "What can I say? No enemies; we just walked in and grabbed some things."

"What exactly did you grab?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

She chuckled. "Okay, you win this one, little _gryning_."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my pajamas, heading to the showers. I always took a shower after every mission, as a kind of relief from the stress. And hey - I still felt a little cold. I found a stall, closed the door, stripped, and stepped in. I closed my eyes and laid against the wall as the warm water hit my body, steam beginning to fill the room.

_Ah, that feels good._

It was peaceful showering in the evening- no morning rush of women in various states of dress, making tons of noise as they woke up and got ready for the day. Hey, it beat showering in the PRIESTs, where Mary would almost _always_ wake up before me, beating my lazy ass to the shower and having to wait to use it.

It felt great, just standing there and letting the water do the work while not having to think about anything else.

The war.

My skills.

 _Peace._ That'd be my ultimate reward when the Collective fell. A day when humanity wouldn't have to worry about the Ethereals or anything else they'd bring to bear.

Of course, until the next bad guy came along.

But that would have to wait.

One evil at a time, thank you very much.

Probably should ask Caelior with some help with that Ethereal Script.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ : I have art commissioned of Caelior's unmasking by Zephyrus-Genesis on Deviantart. Amazing work, check it out here: zephyrus-genesis/art/COMMISSION-Siblings-by-Choice-860457159

* * *

To be continued in:

**Shared Minds Think Alike**


	17. Shared Minds Think Alike

_Pool Recreation Complex, Praesidium_

_7/24/17- 7:00 PM_

I dipped my toes in the pool, waiting for my friend.

Honestly, I hadn't expected Caelior to take me up on my offer of hanging out in the pool. Although Ethereals weren't a fan of deep bodies of water, XCOM's pool was nowhere close to 'deep', save for the Olympic-sized section the next room over. He was willing to hang out with me here - and I even brought some food.

Had a feeling he'd like it.

I looked around the empty room. It wasn't usually like this, but it was in the evening, and rarely anyone came. Even so, our privacy wouldn't be disturbed. I was wearing the two-piece I'd wear when I came here to hang out with my squadmates. It felt good, being in the water and just...floating around. It was peaceful, and when it came to swimming, my augmented body more than knocked it out of the park. My comrades had shown me another neat trick that I hadn't considered- my lungs being able to hold air for quite a while underwater - in my case, a little over ten minutes - and that was without practicing at all. The first time I did that, it almost freaked me out how _natural_ it felt, as-

"Hello, Dawn."

I turned around, and my eyes widened. I didn't expect him to wear his robes and helm into the pool (he wasn't), but he had replaced his clothes with something that looked extremely similar to a once-piece, leaving only his hands, forearms, lower legs, and feet exposed.

"Caelior! I...where'd you get that?"

"Custom made."

I looked up and down at him, visually scanning him. What stuck out to me most was just how similar his feet looked; it had an arch just like a human's, along with a heel and five toes, and the toes themselves looked slightly thinner and longer than a human's.

"You look good. I think black works for you!" His suit also showed off just how much physical prowess Ethereals had over us. He didn't look like a massive bodybuilder or anything, but although they had lean forms, they were a bit heavy. I could see some visible muscles slightly bulging from his arms, torso, and legs, just like my body.

"I appreciate it. Why are you looking at my feet?" He sat down next to me, crossing his legs. "Do they look _that_ different?"

I shrugged. I knew Ethereals had toenails, but I'd never seen them up close like _this_. They looked more like claws- actually, more like a witches' fingernails. They weren't comically sharp or pointy in any way, but they certainly stuck out. The nails were clear, but blended with the purple skin tone.

"Alien?" He finished. "It makes sense for bipedal species like yours and mine to have such a design for our feet. It is good for gripping, balance, and stability, no?"

"Makes sense to me, I guess." On a closer inspection, I noticed that if I looked close enough, I could see some veins under his skin. They were a bit harder to see compared to ours', as their blue-and-purple veins blended in well with their skin, while ours could stick out like a sore thumb.

"I see. Would you like to go in now?"

I grinned. "Of course, with a little style. Check this out, big guy." I stood up, walking over to the diving board. I climbed the stairs, walking to the edge on my tiptoes as Caelior got up, watching.

His head tilted, as I felt his voice in my mind. _**What are you doing?**_

I grinned at him. Sometimes our conversations were just us sitting there, talking through our minds. He'd told me that although he liked talking verbally, he sometimes preferred it when it was quiet, and I was fine with that.

 _Check this out, Caelior. Sometimes it pays to be small_.

I took a few steps back, angled my legs and feet, and ran to the edge of the diving board, leaping off and curling myself into a ball.

"Cannonball!"

I hit the water a second later, sinking down as the water bubbled around me. Pre-augmented me, I would've closed my eyes while doing this, but my modified eyes were more than capable of not being affected in the slightest by it. I spread my arms and legs, propelling myself to the surface. Caelior looked down at me, feet at the edge of the pool, shaking his head.

"What?" I laughed, shaking my wet hair, flinging droplets everywhere. "The water's cool, and it's not deep at all!"

"The water is not the issue. Why enter like that when you can simply wade in?"

I shrugged. "Why _not?_ "

"Unlike your species, we are not as buoyant. More bluntly, we sink. However, wading is...acceptable." He floated over the pool, vertically lowering himself into the water until only his upper torso, neck, and head stuck out.

"Caelior, I didn't-"

He smiled. "You meant no insult. Besides…" He extended his two upper arms, lifting water with his telekinesis. Noticing my widening eyes, he grinned, shaping it into a large, floating orb of water, glinting as the overhead lights shined through it like the sun.

"Water is malleable. I prefer to shape it, instead of swim"

I chuckled, smiling at Caelior's little creation. "Yeah. That's, that's wonderful. It looks great!"

"Ethereal children like-" He cleared his throat. "-liked to do this a lot. It was practice and a little fun. When it comes to telekinesis, water is one of the most malleable things you can experiment with. You can make many shapes, make waves, and even..."

He flicked a finger, and a second, smaller, sphere split off from the orb of water, which flew over my head- and then splashed me.

"Ah! You little-"

He smiled. "Splash your friends."

"Remind me to _never_ take your purple ass to a water park!"

"Do not worry. Such a place is distasteful and horrifying on its own."

He played with his makeshift orb for a few more seconds, splitting it into two, then three, then four orbs before letting them go, collapsing them back into countless little droplets. He looked at me, his head cocking inquisitively.

"Dawn, would it be taboo for me to ask to touch the hair on your head?"

"What? No, no, that's not creepy at all! Why? Do you want to?"

He nodded. "I would. I have wondered what it feels like. And, it looks intriguing to me."

"Well, nothing's stopping you. Here." I turned around, grabbing some of my hair and holding it out. "Don't tug it too much. It hurts if you do that."

I felt his long fingers touch my hair, weaving it between his fingers as he examined it. I didn't have eyes in the back of my head, but I could tell he was doing the cocked-head motion again.

"How does it feel?"

"It's unique. It is finer when compared to Borelians. It also matches your eyes. A characteristic of your species?"

I shrugged. "It's a coincidence on a biological level, I guess. There's lots of hair colors, natural ones at least. We also use a lot of dyes to give ourselves hair colors like blue or pink, that don't occur naturally."

"So I have seen. Unfortunately perpetuated by Quisilia's Avatars."

_What did he mean-oh._ _**Those** _ _people. What were they called? The Moron Twins?_

I'd come upon a few of their 'videos' on Twitter, and besides the horrible quality, editing, and constant insertion of hashtags and emojis, the very idea of filming yourselves kill people with families, post it online, and _make fun of it_ was sickening. I bet that if Quisilia didn't have such a high investment into Twitter's stocks, they would've been taken down almost immediately.

Besides just the video, it was creepy listening to them _talk_. Besides their butchery of the English language, when they spoke with the masks on, it didn't _sound_ like they were just talking - their voices were heavily distorted, as if someone else was talking at the same time. It was definitely the Avatar link, but it made them sound barely human. Hearing such a mix of light-and-low-pitched voices at the same time was downright eerie, if not just plain creepy.

Ignoring even that, they didn't seem that good at their jobs if they were going to livestream themselves in combat. I had a feeling they'd be no match for Fiona or the Chronicler. Hell, they were barely over a year older than _me_.

If that wasn't enough, their parents were still quite alive - and had to live with the shame that their two insufferable kids were not only mass murderers, but traitors. I remember the interview ANN did with them - the mother couldn't stop crying, and the dad just looked...crestfallen wasn't the right word, but it'd have to do. It was like someone had ripped his soul right out of him. Of course, they condemned their actions, but man, when they spoke, it _hurt_.

" _Why'd they do this to us? We raised them well, gave them a good life - and they turn on us and their people by doing this? Killing soldiers and mocking them online? We knew they were torn up when their brother died - but we never thought they'd do something like this! We thought ADVENT might straighten them out after that whole misinformation thing with their phone calls, but we never thought they were capable of this!"_

They'd promptly disowned them, and had been pretty quiet since. I doubt it affected the Twins much- they didn't upload or post anything the day of the interview, though. Shame it took this much to shut them up.

Ugh.

"Not me personally, no. Never really did that anyway, and even if I did, that's a big no-no on the regulations. You put dye in it, and you can get almost any color. Green, blue, orange, pink- you name it. Some people are naturally born with red hair, though."

"I see. I admit, it is hard to imagine you with such _colored_ hair."

I chuckled. "It's more of a me thing, really. You guys don't have any hair on your bodies, right?"

"We don't, though it is an amusing thought. I've noticed that Humans tend to style their hair more often than Borelians, in ways that seem rather unnecessary."

"Maybe, but I like it," I shrugged. "There's lots of different ways to do it, though some are harder than others. Braids, ponytails, dreadlocks - we've played with our hair for millions of years and come up with some interesting stuff. I'd do some of it here, but…" I sighed. "Rules are rules. Did it all the time in highschool. I _loved_ having a ponytail. I guess letting it look like this isn't all bad, but it's just hair."

He released his extremely delicate grip on my hair, and I turned around.

"You want to swim now or something?"

He shook his head. "No. My experiences with water have not been pleasant, though I am hardly unique. "

"What do you mean?"

He paused for a moment, turning his head away from me, which in a funny way was the only part of his body now not underwater. "How familiar are you with Sicarius?"

"The one with the orb helmet? A bit. Why?"

He sighed. "Back in the Collective, quite a while back before Earth, I held a strong dislike of her. You must understand, this was back when I was arrogant and prideful, and not like how I am now. I believed that she did not belong with us in our Collective, that she was too young and too weak, even though she was...accomplished."

I gulped. His tone of voice seemed sadder, like when he was talking about his past girlfriend or family. I didn't say anything; I crossed my legs, hung my arms on the edge of the pool, and just floated there while he talked.

"It got to a point where the Imperator became extremely furious with how I viewed her. So, he teleported me to a deserted planet for several months as a punishment. When I...fell there, for lack of a better term, I landed in a large lake. It was not filled with any harmful wildlife, but I had never been in such a deep body of water before. Some recreation pools, yes. But this was quite new. I had to use my telekinesis to hurl myself out before I drowned."

I slightly gasped. "Caelior, we can leave if you want to. I didn't-"

"No. This is fine. It was not traumatic as you fear, just...an unpleasant surprise." He continued speaking. "I had several fits of rage while I was there, but I eventually accepted my fate and ate some of the local wildlife to survive. Eventually, Quisilia picked me up from there, and the Imperator never spoke of it again. While I still harbored hatred for her, I never spoke of it again."

"Until now?"

"Not quite. The therapy has allowed me to voice my emotions. To be honest, Dawn, I feel better now that I can talk to people whose job it is to _care_. I was an asshole- a really big asshole."

"Did you just say _asshole?_ "

"A Human term I find appropriate in this case."

"I've never heard you say that before."

"Your language is quite expressive in ways my own is not. Besides, it is an accurate description of me back then."

I snorted.

"But that is for another time, Dawn." He inched closer to me, until he was right next to me, our arms almost touching. "I have people who care here now. More than anyone in the Collective. The truth is, while some Ethereals have more empathy and open emotions than others, your kind are, for lack of a better term, _kind_."

"That's sweet." I smiled. I could tell he was happy about this; he was relaxed, and although his mental defenses were weak right now, you could _feel_ his happiness, be it from the sound of his voice or the warm, relaxed feeling of the aura around him. "I'm glad you feel that way about us."

"But what about _you_ , Dawn? What do you think of me?"

"As a person?"

"However you see me, yes."

I smiled at him. "Caelior, I think you're one of the best people I know. I know you've been through a lot, and you've done a lot of things you regret. And I get that. You were taken advantage of by people who only saw you as a _tool_ , a _weapon_ , a _plaything_ to throw around."

I reached out and lightly took his hand.

"But I think you're much more than that. You're young, like me. You've got centuries, millenia to grow and develop. You gave me a chance to have a friend like no other, and I don't regret it one bit. Going into each other's minds, hanging out, sleeping over...I feel like you _get_ me, you know? You're like me, buddy. Teens in war who've had to make decisions. I know you want to be better, and you've done a stellar job. I feel comfortable around you, and I'm not going to trade that for anything."

I gulped.

"When I talk with you, you understand what bugs me. You in me and I trust in you. And I don't feel like there's very many other people who do. I don't care that you're an Ethereal. Hell, in some alternate universe you could be a Muton or Vitakara and I wouldn't give a shit. You're a _good person_ , Caelior. I know we haven't known each other for very long…"

I pulled him into a hug, wrapping my arms around his torso, leaning my head against where his stomach was.

"But I care about you. A lot. And I'm not going to abandon you. I'm not going to leave you. If you need me…"

I felt all four of his arms wrap around me, pulling me tightly into another hug.

_**Then I'll know right where to find you.** _

His voice softly echoed in my head as we stayed in each other's arms, just floating in the water. We didn't talk- we didn't need to.

Because we had each other.

_There's no one else like us in the world, Caelior._

_**I know. That's why I trust you so much. Because you're there for me. When there was no one else, you were there.** _

_When I needed to open up and vent, you were there. You listened to me, and you taught me things._

_**You taught me things too, Dawn.** _

I felt the walls between our minds weaken.

_Can I come in?_

_**Yes.** _

Like in Turkey, I slipped into his mind. I smiled, lowering my defenses.

_Come in if you want to._

As I went into his mind, feeling his memories, I felt his presence inside my head. I grinned, closing my eyes. I felt slightly sleepy, going into his mind, like a fish swimming through a current.

Pictures and images flashed by me like an old-school film reel.

_Home._

A two-story house appeared in front of me, surrounded by lush green grass.

_Family._

A large group of Ethereals appeared in front of me, wearing helmets and robes of various colors. Most were adults, but a few were children. I noticed one of them was wearing...was that Battlemaster armor?

_Mother._

An Ethereal materialized in front of me in what looked like a kitchen. Her helmet was off, and was wearing white-silver robes, extending a hand which was holding what looked like a child's toy.

" _Caelior. You are special. You will do great things."_

_Father._

Another Ethereal replaced her, this one with purple robes, his helmet off as well. He stood next to me, watching as I used telekinesis to lift a huge boulder, hovering it in the air while a crowd of much larger, older Ethereals dressed in what looked like scientists' garb took notes on paper-thin tablets.

" _I am so proud of you, my son. I cannot emphasize how grateful I am that you were born. Your mother and I will always love you. We will always be there for you, even if we may no longer breathe."_

_They were never there for me when I needed them._

_They lied to me._

_They all lied to me._

The image went fuzzy, replacing that with another Ethereal woman, sitting next to me on a rock overlooking a gorgeous cliff with an orange-red sun glowing in the evening sky. She took her helmet off, her orange eyes burning into my mind. 'I' took mine off, leaning towards her.

_Amera._

_My first and only love._

It changed again, to another scene of the woman. She lay on the ground in different robes, half of her face burnt off, her limbs mangled, the light from her eyes gone. Everything around me smelled burnt. I was sobbing, crying as I held her limp hands in mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a massive _thing_ on the ground.

Black, shaped like a squid.

_Synthesized! Run! Run away!_

The memories went quiet for a while, before reappearing. I was in his mind - but there was someone else too. A voice.

 _Trask's_ voice.

My heart skipped a beat as pain shot through my body. I screamed, but no sound came out of my mouth.

It went black, changing again to a part of the Praesidium. Standing in front of me was-

_No. Not her!_

Purple lightning shot out of her hands, hitting me in the chest.

_So much pain._

Once more, the scene fizzled out, a new palette of various colors slowly becoming clearer to me. I was sitting on the ground, my legs crossed. I was staring at- Dawn! I reached for my helmet, taking my mask off.

" _How do I look?"_

" _You...Caelior, you look great, buddy."_

As 'I' looked at Dawn, a single word appeared in my mind.

_Sister._

_Human sister._

I gasped as I felt my connection slipping away, everything going white as my whole body tinged.

I felt his power, as if it was coursing through me.

The power to lift mountains.

The power to crush armies.

The power to reduce fleets to splinters.

I felt his mind.

I felt his power.

His body was like a furnace - no, an engine overflowing with power. Seeing it made me realize just how much I was outclassed by an Ethereal- the intelligence, the power- stacked up against me, I was _nothing_.

But I could feel him inside my head, too. Seeing things from my perspective - smaller, more minute, yet deadly all the same, just like him. There was no doubt about who'd win a fight, but we shared one thing.

We were both unique.

We were together in this.

I felt the words coming to my mind, as did he.

I opened my mouth, he opened his mouth.

" _ **I am here for you."**_

I blinked as everything became normal again. I looked down, yelping as I was levitating in front of him, being balanced by a light telekinetic field. I saw my reflection in the water, noticing my eyes were glowing purple.

Then I looked back at him and saw his face.

His eyes were glowing a brighter orange than normal, his cheeks a darker purple than usual. His voice was cracking, like he was sobbing- but there were no tears.

"I...I haven't done that with anyone in _so long_. It's been centuries, and I...haven't found anyone to trust in that time. I thought I was so much, that I had so much. Then I lost it, then I got something back, then I almost lost it again."

He put up a weak smile, his body slightly vibrating.

"But you. You are here with me now."

He pulled me closer to him, leaning his forehead towards me. I reciprocated, touching my forehead to his. I remembered what this meant- a sign of friendship, a sign of true trust.

"I will not lose you. Not after all of this."

"I won't lose you either."

* * *

_Pool Recreation Complex Changing Room, Praesidium_

_7/24/17- 7:55 PM_

I changed back into my normal clothes, putting my wet two-piece in the bag. I had plans to sleep at his place tomorrow - he needed some alone time after what just happened.

Which was nothing I'd expected.

It had _felt_ good, to be honest. Being in his head gave me a sort of comforting feeling, like being in a warm house after walking through a cold snowfall. A sort of feeling that was like home, knowing that you were safe and protected.

He hadn't brought up what he'd seen in my head, though he promised to talk about it tomorrow. That was fine by me - I didn't really have any traumatic or memories that would negatively affect someone. Hell, the most painful thing I remember happening to me was twisting my ankle in the gym in eleventh grade.

I shook my head, throwing on my shirt. The whole thing had been a mix of euphoric and enjoyable. Being in the mind of something so much older and powerful then you gave you a new perspective on some things. Just like in Turkey, I had felt his power, his reach, the extent of what he could do. It felt almost...addicting, like an adrenaline rush. But I felt like we'd both learned something about ourselves. We'd learned to trust each other even more, showing each other parts of our lives and what made us, well, _us_.

We hadn't talked much after that, just hugging it out for a few more minutes and quietly drinking the root beer floats I'd brought over while engaging in a quiet, reserved telepathic conversation about each others' day. Seeing him drink through a straw out of a floating plastic cup was kind of funny. I'd be lying if we didn't feel a little odd after the memory show, as I guess we were both getting used to what we'd seen. The memories hadn't been transferred permanently, mind you like Aegis had during my training. But you _could_ remember seeing the memories, clear as day.

It wasn't a bond, obviously; Ethereal bonds didn't work like that, and there wasn't anything romantic about it. At most, it was a mental 'sneak peak' into each other's minds.

And we were both okay with that.

Still, as I got dressed, I couldn't shake the overarching feeling of fear in his mind. I sense in his post-Collective memories that in XCOM, he had a greater sense of comfort and happiness; training with Aegis, talking with Yates, and hanging out with me - these moments and experiences made him feel happy. But he had a reserved well of fear bottled up in him. He didn't say it, but he was afraid that the Collective would come after him again to kill him for good. Trask, the Battlemaster, the Overmind, Quisilia - he still feared them. He knew he was stronger and more powerful than ever, but he wasn't invincible.

He was still mortal. Like me.

Like all of us.

* * *

_Dreamscape_

_7/26/17- 2:30 PM_

When it came to using the Dreamscape, the possibilities were almost endless in what you could think of - provided T'Leth allowed it, of course.

My beat-down with Patricia had earned me a little fame- and infamy in XCOM, as the official notice sent out after my 'talk' with the Commander and Chronicler (which was basically just me standing in front of the two and promising not to do that again) has gotten a few chuckles from my friends. Personally, I think some of them were jealous that such a thing was against rules, as Patricia and her disposition to killing her former friends and targeting civilians made killing her a revenge fantasy for many people here.

Better to do something like that here than to do it in real life, I guess. Much less danger here than out there.

But one thing I loved doing were the solo missions, like my first test with Geist. It was simple enough; you against whatever Papa T cooked up that day. It felt a bit intimidating, having to work on your own without a team. I really enjoyed working with MECs, as well...well, they're killer cyborgs. What's _not_ to like about having a friend who can rain down fire from above, or who can take an Oyariah Titan in one-on-one melee and win?

But I digress. I was quite happy with who I was now.

No need to tear out my guts and replace them with metals anytime soon, thank you very much. I had a mission to do, a simple one; fight through some enemies, and grab some kind of valuable intel at the end.

With a nod, the battle began. The inky black room that was the Dreamscape turned into a large park in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, sparsely dotted with trees and benches. I dashed, taking cover behind a statue, scanning the area.

_Damn._

There were some Vitakara and Mutons walking around, seemingly on patrol. I had the element of surprise, which was good. The downside? There were at least eight Custodians walking around. I couldn't use my telepathy on them.

But I didn't _need_ to.

I went into the minds of a small group of Mutons nearby, seizing control of them with relative ease.

_Fire on the Custodians. Everyone besides me is the enemy._

The Mutons began firing at the robot soldiers, providing a distraction as I dashed out of cover, shooting a Borelian in the head twice with my Psi Rifle, the psionic bolts tearing through her helmet and killing her instantly. Her partner began to raise her gun, but she too dropped dead with a single thought.

_Don't focus on the dead. Keep moving, keep shooting. Keep it fluid._

I took out a Dynamo grenade, pushing the button and throwing it at several Mutons in the parking lot. The grenade activated, reality ripping apart as the hulking green aliens were torn apart with purple energy, painting the concrete and cars with yellow blood and burnt scraps of metal. What used to be five Mutons were now charred corpses.

_Man, the science guys make good shit, Gotta thank them next time I see them._

I looked over at my merry band of Mutons, who were keeping the Custodians busy. One of them charges a Custodian, grabbing it by the left arm and smashing its muscled fist into it until it went limp, only to get gunned down by the surviving drones. I lined up my rifle, taking another Custodian down with a few chest shots, keeping my bursts short. While it was kind of amusing to watch the two sides fight like AI from a video game, I wasn't here to play around.

With another grenade, they both went up in purple fire.

_Four grenades left. Make 'em count._

I ran across the parking lot and down the street, following my HUD markers.

_Bang!_

A plasma bolt shot past my head, the projectile burning into the concrete. I dropped, taking cover behind a stone fountain I immediately mentally scanned the nearby area, looking for the culprit. I found a Cobrarian sniper on a nearby houses' roof, looking for targets.

She immediately fell face-first into a car roof, her neck snapping with a sickening crack a second later.

_Easy. But I let my guard down back there._

_C'mon._

I got up, crouching as I walked past the fountain, scanning for anyone trying to kill me. Finding nothing, I moved on to another street, where I took cover behind a dumpster, where across the street, another obstacle awaited me. Two Archons were hovering over a large McMansion, while several Titans and a small horde of Custodians patrolled around it. I sensed Cobrarians and Vitakara in the house, guarding something.

_Guess he wants me to go in there, then. Gotta take them all out, then._

I primed another Dynamo grenade, throwing it at the clustered Custodians holed up by a garage. I ran from cover, shooting at the Archons who dodged my shots, throwing plasma at me. The garage exploded as the psionosphere ripped it apart, killing everyone inside. The Titans, weidling a mix of clubs, hammers, and shields, charged me.

_Not today._

I penetrated their minds, the hulking menaces freezing in their tracks as I took control of them. Oyariah minds were somewhat odd in that, while far from being as dumb as a Muton, their minds felt oddly _simple_. You could feel the raging fanaticism in their minds, the borderline zealotry fueling them, like crusaders trying to burn a heretic or witch at the stake.

Which made their minds much easier to control.

 _Not today, boys. This witch is gonna live another day_.

They turned around, charging the house. I'd felt more enemies in there, so while I'd fight the Archons, they'd do the clean-up work. They ran past the Archons, smashing through the front walls and letting their melee weapons fly.

_Alright, time for the discount Archangels._

I aimed for their base, targeting their thrusters as I fired in longer bursts than usual, trying to hit _something_. While a few shots hit them, blowing some of their engines, they were still flying, albeit trailing smoke.

I stole a glance over at the large house, where my co-workers, covered in alien blood, were finishing clubbing the last of the enemies inside. I killed them with a thought, focusing back on the Archons who were circling the house.

_Okay, you've had your fun. Game's over._

I primed another Dynamo grenade, throwing it into the air as the two zoomed closer to me to get a better shot. It detonated point-blank in one of the Archon's faces, disintegrating it instantly. The second, while not too close, got hit pretty bad. It slammed into the ground, flailing wildly as it tried to get airborne again, to no avail. I walked over to it, shooting it in the head.

_Not a bad throw. Guess all that basketball has paid off. Imagine that._

I walked into the collapsed house, which the Oyariah had brought down with surprisingly little effort. I stepped over the bodies, having to lift up a few fallen wooden beams to clear the path. I made my way into the ruined kitchen, where a dead Vitkarian's body with a dented-in head slumped over my target: a pristine-colored black box, with a handle and a few blood splatters on it.

Before XCOM, if I'd seen an image like this, I probably would've run to the nearest bathroom to vomit. I'd seen gore in movies and video games, no problem? But in reality (or as close to it as you could get here), that'd be a whole 'nother story.

I pushed aside the corpse, grabbed the box, which was surprisingly light, looking it over.

_Well, mission accomplished, then. Had to admit, that was short._

The simulation ended a second, transporting me back to reality. I took my hand off of the orb, breathing in and out. While I didn't physically feel tired from that, the exhaustion from doing that in real life still got to you.

_Not bad._

I was getting better- particularly at the mind control. The grenade throw was good, but I could've just used my telepathy to take them out. I'd handled the non-biological enemies pretty well, though my aim needed some work. Burst-firing the Psi Rifle was easy enough on its own, but in the heat of combat you could forget to, and risk overheating and damaging it.

Two things you definitely _didn't_ want happened to you.

I sighed, walking out of the Dreamscape room to check my schedule. Lunch was next, then I had some free time.

Maybe another visit to the Shoggoths, if I could.

* * *

_Gym, Praesidium_

_7/27/17- 11:50 AM_

The ball flew past the goalie into the goal, hitting the net.

"Goal!" Rouvin Gould, our team's resident Scot, threw a hand into the air. "That's another for humanity!"

Nalena, the Cobrarian goalie, shook her head hissing as she slithered over to the scoreboard, marking another down for our team. I had to say, fighting an all-alien team was interesting. There were four people in total on each side - me and Rouvin being the humans on this one, with a bored-looking Dath'Haram scientist named Dainten leaning on our goal, waiting for the next round to begin.

And of course, to make this perfectly normal and in no way out-of-the-ordinary team complete, my fourth teammate was an Oyariah.

Because sure, why not?

The opposing team wasn't anything to scoff at either. Having a Cobrarian as a goalie made things tough, though she only used her hands and not her tail to catch. A hulking Borelian male, Jarine was the team's muscle, while a pair of female Vitakara, named Trella and Cairu respectively, backed him up. Everyone was wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt like me, even Xarian, whose own shirt looked a bit baggy on his massive form. Only difference being that on the human shirts, the lettering was in English, while the Vitakarians had what I presumed was their own language inscribed on it.

Cairu - I'd heard that name before. Apparently, she was the sister of Nartha, the one and only OG alien defector. He himself was close with a few XCOM soldiers, but he wasn't around here often, as he was probably on Vitakar doing...stuff with the Nulorian.

Even though those guys were on our side, they were still a nasty bunch. I mean, bombing schools and hospitals? Wasn't exactly something I approved of. But I remembered what the Commander said about them, having to become ruthless and all because of the Zararch. Besides, we had no one else on Vitakar with connections like them.

A necessary evil, I suppose.

I'd seen a little bit of Vitakar here and there from the Dreamscape and pictures Carreria showed me. She wasn't wrong when she said Vitakar was a more intense version of Earth. The weather, the extreme environments - it was like the biomes on Earth turned up to eleven. It kind of explained the Vitakarian races, in an evolutionary sense. Extreme environment, extreme adaptations. Cold environment? Grow fur like the Borelians. Water-based environment? Grow gills like the Sar'Manda. Super hot and sandy environment? Become a snake, of course.

Because why not, right?

"Alright! Next round!" Trella clapped her hands. "Vitakarians three, humans and Oyariah two."

Xarian chuckled, cracking his stone knuckles. "Ready for another round, little one?"

He'd been calling me that since this game started, and honestly, I thought it was kind of adorable. Besides, I wasn't going to argue with the literal _mountain_ with arms and legs. I was kind of jealous, honestly. Having naturally grown layers of stone that are actually bulletproof? Being able to whack each other over the head with giant hammers in your free time and just shrug it off like it was nothing?

I wouldn't lie - if reincarnation was a thing, I wouldn't mind being an Oyariah in another life.

The goalie blew the whistle, and the game began. Xarian, being the biggest guy on our team, went after the Borelian, blocking him while Rouvin handled the ball, passing it to mw while dodging the two Vitakarians, who were occasionally squawking at each other in their own language, making moves at both of us. They were fast - the two of them were stronger than us humans, and had served in the Runiararch for several years combined - more military experience than I'd ever had.

My only advantage was being a bit more experienced at this game, and even that was stretching it.

Rouvin kicked the ball to me, moving further up the field in front of me to line up a shot to the goal. Trell was tailing me, while Xarian was busy dealing with Jarine and Cairu. I dashed closer and closer to Rouving, kicking the ball in his direction-

"Sike!"

Trella came out from behind me, intercepting the ball and moving in the direction of our goal.

_Damn!_

I cursed under my breath, pivoting on a heel and turning around. She was fast. Not a bad move, either. I went after her, who was taking turns passing with Jarine. Dainten, noticing the incoming enemy team, took a defensive stance, snapping to a state of readiness inhumanely quickly. I kept forgetting that their reflexes were far superior to a humans' and with genetic augmentation, even better.

Cairu kicked the ball, and it flew right into Dainten's hands. He smirked, raising his hand.

"I have the ball!"

_Oh, he was just rubbing it into them, wasn't he?_

If Trella was rolling her eyes, she definitely was. You couldn't tell due to the solid-orb eyes, but if you looked closely at the skin around the eye, the way it subtly moved could tip you off that they were, in fact, rolling their eyes.

A bonus from hanging around a lot of aliens, I guess.

We all moved away from the goal to the half-court area, where he tossed the ball with an overhand throw, and everyone immediately shot into action. I made a mad dash for the ball, getting my hands (well, foot- this was soccer, so getting your hands on it if you weren't the goalie was breaking the rules) on the ball and kicking it to Xarian, whose momentum carried him across the court. For such a large creature, he was _fast_. There was something intimidating and fascinating about a massive hulk of rock and flesh barreling across the court. Think of the Oyariah as you will, but don't let it be said that their biology doesn't give them some unique advantages.

_C'mon, you can do it._

The Borelian was tag-teaming him along with Cairu, while Trell and Rouvin were each trying to one-up each other. I was keeping up with Xarian (albeit he couldn't exactly run at full speed or he'd put us all to shame) as he passed it to me, navigating behind me, acting as a walking roadblock to prevent anyone from flanking me like last time.

"Go, human! I have your back!"

_Thanks, bud._

I ran closer and closer to the goal, watching the massive snake lady rapidly uncurl her body, her two eyes watching me as I prepared to kick.

_Not today, nope rope._

I kicked the ball, sending it right past her head and into the goal net. The buzzer went off, giving my team another point. She shook her head, picking up the ball and tossing it to Xarian.

"Three for three, Oyariah. Not bad, Human."

The game ended shortly after and we all walked off the field. Rouvin wiped some sweat off his head. "You did pretty good there, Dawn. You play this a lot before coming here?"

I shrugged. "Eh, played a bit of soccer here and there casually."

"Football."

I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, at least us Americans use the metric system now. Not that I really ever had an issue with it in the first place. Kind of weird saying 'meters' instead of feet now. I'll get used to it, though." I smirked, deciding to add a little joke to the mix. "What do you mean, I have to use _meters_ to describe how tall I am? I'm not 1.8 meters tall, I'm actually one assault rifle and one bald eagle tall."

Rouvin chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Okay, that one wasn't bad. Anyway, I grew up using it. Just glad it's a universal thing now. Heard ADVENT's going to be calling your soccer football now, and your football, the one with the touchdowns American Football."

I snorted. "Fair enough. But hey, call it whatever you want, it's still fun."

"Oh yeah. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some training to do. Later!"

I plopped myself down on a chair, grabbing a plastic bottle of orange juice and chugging it. Xarian walked over to me, his massive form overshadowing mine and sitting done next to me, preferring to sit on the floor, as his weight would've broken any chair.

"Enjoyable game, human. It's not the Fighting Arena, but I suppose it will do."

"Fighting Arena? That's where you guys go to relieve stress by whacking the shit out of each other?"

He chuckled, which sounded like the ground rumbling before an earthquake or landslide. "Are you surprised? It is not as if your species does not engage in such sport. . However, our natural physiology is ideally suited for more... _engaging_ combat."

I smirked. "I'm jealous. Closest thing that I ever did to fighting someone was telling my extended family to shut up about politics on Thanksgiving."

"I am unfamiliar with your holiday, but I hope that such was enjoyable. Or did you not mean physically?"

"Um, verbally." I cleared my throat. While the mental image of the family Thanksgiving dinner devolving into a fist fight was funny, the aftermath… not so much.

He laughed. "Ah, I suppose it is not inherent in your species. In my youth, we engaged in such combat in the areas daily." He noticed my raised eyebrow. "Yet it is less common for you?"

"Well, we do have boxing, and wrestling, and rugby, but those aren't really the same thing." I shrugged. " But I have to say, I'm pretty jealous of the stone armor."

He chuckled again. "Many are. But you have the Gift, no? That is something to be proud of."

I smiled. For such a big, intimidating guy, he did his best to be nice. He wasn't really failing per se, as I didn't feel threatened by him at all. No, no I was more _intrigued_ then nervous, anyway.

"Yeah, I am proud of it. Granted, I'm a little young than the others, but I do a good enough job here. Besides, it's a hell of a job. Wouldn't trade it for anything."

"I have heard. You can do biopathy, yes?"

"The melting one, yes. It's a bit messier than what Sana does, but I'm happy with what I got on the genetic lottery."

"I see."

I paused. "I have a question about your culture."

"You may ask."

"Uh, I heard that you guys worship the Ethereals. But, you don't see them as god-like figures, right?" He nodded. "But if you don't see them as gods, then what do you see them as?"

"As something _more_ ," he answered. "The universe acts on forces and laws that are incomprehensible. Inexplicable. Higher power, be it derived from law or the irrational, exists. The Gift is the expression of this, and the Elders are they who embody the higher power of this universe. Beings of immortality and power, worthy of devotion and respect."

He paused. "Yet even they can schism and question. They are not a monolith. Thus, choices were made. Your species is young, but you possess a connection to the beyond that we cannot. Cultivate your gift, little one. One day there will be others who look upon you as we do the Elders. Perhaps it will even be us."

I nodded. While I was very interested in this conversation, I could both see and not see what he was saying. The Oyariah saw the Elders as something more than Human - I mean Vitakarian, thanks to their psionics and lifespans. While not seeing them on a level of a figure like a god or creation myth, they saw them as figures worthy of being worshipped.

"There aren't any Vitakara who aren't Oyariah that see the Ethereals like you do, right?" A small part of me wanted to give him a piece of my mind for formerly worshipping a group of crazed maniacs or scam artists using their power and influence to control people and make them do their bidding - but then again, that wasn't too dissimilar from some religions and cults I'd heard of in the past.

At least he wasn't screaming "Die, heretic!" and trying to burn me at the stake.

"No. We do not proselytize, nor do we force our beliefs on others who do not wish to understand. To do such would be...pointless. They understand us, and that is all that is required. I can, of course, tell you in more detail, if you wish."

"That's fair. I don't suppose you can tell me more?" I guzzled more orange juice. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

"Ask. I will answer what I can."

"So if you worship the Ethereals, how does all of this-" I waved my hand around. "Affect that? By siding with us, you're joining the side which has captured, killed, and turned multiple Ethereals to our side. Hell, we've got an Ethereal locked up right now."

He nodded. "We do not worship Ethereals, but it is a fair question." There was a pause. "I believe that Aegis has been truthful, akin to the Battlemaster and Sana'Ligna. I am familiar with him, I have met him, and seen his actions for my people. I am disinclined to disbelieve, especially when Sana'Ligna has similarly removed herself from the conflict. I could only choose between the Elders I knew, and the ones from which there are only stories. In the end, I trust my eyes and experience, and my race is being misled. The loyalty owed to the Elders is strong, and for that I do not blame them, but the Imperator is not the way. It is...not ideal to fight and kill my own kind. But, as a member of Aegis' Honor Guard, I must do what I can."

"I'm sorry, _Aegis' Guard?_ "

"He assigned me the role and honor as the first of such after I arrived at XCOM. Hopefully, in the future, more of my kind will see the light. But for now, I am alone."

You had to feel some pity for him. Barring his beliefs, this whole 'Ethereal divide' thing clearly affected him. He'd been indoctrinated from day one to worship them, and then he sees one _fighting_ against his kind- and not only that but to discover that us Humans had killed several more _had_ to do something to his mind. He seemed alright, but I wouldn't blame if he'd had a serious conflict of faith.

"It was quite surprising to learn from Aegis the lies they told us. I once believed they rewarded the Godkillers generously."

"Godkiller?"

"One who has killed an Ethereal. The Commander, Moira Vahlen, Patricia Trask, Franklin West, and Kane Mctaggert, I assume."

I recognized all but one of those names. 'Franklin West' didn't ring a bell. Maybe a dead veteran? I'd ask Sierra about that next time I saw her.

"I'm assuming all expect the last one helped kill the Ravaged One?"

"The one greatly weakened by the Machine-Gods, yes."

I raised an eyebrow. "Machine-Gods?"

"You may also know them as the Synthesized, yes."

 _Oh. Well, if anything, it's an interesting use of terminology._ "I'm a little familiar with them."

"You are?"

"Caelior accidentally showed me one in the Dreamscape once."

"You are familiar with Elder Caelior?"

"We're very good friends. Very close."

He narrowed his beady black eyes, as if trying to run the information through his head. "I have had few interactions with him. Aegis is...older than him. More mature."

"You're not wrong, though he's improving. Honestly, I guess we're close because of our respective circumstances."

"Your youth?"

"One of them, yes. We're both prodigies among our respective species, though for different talents. I'm humanity's first biopath, and he was one of the Empire's strongest telekines."

"While I am aware of the Elder's history, I am not so familiar with your kinds' outside of several of your religions and belief systems. You are truly the first biopath of your kind?"

"I am."

"And you are...how many of your years old?"

"Nineteen."

"I see. Atypical of your species, I presume?"

"It is. I have hard days and easy days. I wake up, follow my schedule, practice when I can, make sure I have fun when I need to, rinse and repeat. It's not all _that_ hard, though. The higher-ups know that I'm a teenager, and don't give me anything stressful or over-strenuous I wouldn't be capable of if I wasn't an adult. "

He nodded. "It is good they understand. Everyone has a limit in what one can do. It is a sign of a good leader when one understands what those they command can and cannot do. A soldier is not useful if one is pushed too far. It is like a saying we have. 'A stone is broken not by one strike, but by many cracks'."

"What's it mean?"

"It means that to destroy or be destroyed, there is no one simple way. For something to be destroyed, it requires many minute details and aspects. I imagine your people have equivalent metaphors. Over time, something can be created, like a civilization or weapon. But its ultimate collapses is the result of a culmination of events. The stone, let's say. A stone, if I was to hit it with one of my warhammers, would be crushed. However, I cannot destroy _all_ of it, as small pieces will scatter, some perhaps too small for me to see. To truly destroy the stone, I cannot just simply require my hammers. I need more tools, more strategies."

"That's...actually kind of poetic."

"It is. Now, if you would excuse me, Dawn." He got up, towering over me, as the court's soccer nets were switched out for basketball hoops. Two groups of Vitakara walked onto the court, some beckoning Xarian. "I need to show the other races that a Titan does simply not just dominate the battlefield, but the court."

"Mind if I watch?"

"I do not."

As I watched him walk onto the field, I sipped my drink again, watching the game unfold.

XCOM never ceased to surprise me - and I had a feeling that'd never stop.

And I was fine with that.

* * *

_Caelior's Quarters, Praesidium_

_7/25/17- 7:05 PM_

I stopped outside of Caelior's door, knocking. It opened, and I walked in, the door closing behind me. Caelior was laying on his bed, his helmet off, his head on his pillow, staring at the ceiling. I noticed there was a large cardboard box leaning against the wall.

_Huh?_

"You okay, buddy?"

"I'm...I'm fine Dawn. How are you doing today?"

He sounded different than normal. More deadpan, more worn out.

"Do you want me to leave, give you some alone time?"

He shook his head. "No, that's not needed."

I nodded, heading into the bathroom to change. When I walked out, he had sat up, leaning against the wall.

"Before we watch the movie we talked about, I'd like to discuss yesterday with you."

"Of course."

He patted the part of the bed next to him, and with a nod, he telekinetically lifted me up and plopped me down right next to him, my legs dangling off the bed.

"What's up?"

He sighed. "I have been thinking a lot about our telepathic interaction yesterday. I want to know your thoughts on it."

"My honest thoughts?"

"Yes."

I looked at him, right in his eyes. "I appreciate it, Caelior. You showed your trust for me, and you wouldn't have done that if you didn't feel ready for it. I didn't see _everything_ , but I saw a few things."

"Like what?"

"I saw your mom, your dad, your family, that Amera women, um...Caelior, I don't-"

"It's okay."

"I saw Trask capturing you - both times, and then you unmasking in front of me."

"I see. Thank you for your honesty, Dawn. If you wish to know what I saw, I shall tell you. Some were blurrier than others, but I remember. The earliest one I remember was something about you playing with a plastic figure, with some song about being 'plastic and fantastic'? The next one was you going to school, and then going on a trip to some valley. Next one was you in an educational institution, watching the Ravaged One attack New York. The one after that was you getting a positive psionic test from the PRIEST facility in your birthplace, and your subsequent awakening. After that, it was your first time using biopathy, and then the psionic Overseer meeting you. That was all."

_Poor Caelior heard the Barbie song. I hope it didn't get stuck in his head._

"Feel like so long ago, you know. Bronis walking in and asking me if I wanted to join up. And then meeting you."

"Does it?"

I shrugged. "We're not immortal. Guess humans remember things differently. Besides, the last two years have felt like a century with all that's happened to us. One day, I'm worried about my college acceptance letter. The next, I'm worried about shooting people and telepathy."

"I understand how you feel, Dawn. I cannot say without lying that my life has not changed so much recently, for the better." He clasped his hands together. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

I shook my head. "No! I mean, you lifted me out of the water, but that was it."

"I didn't mean it like that. The way I acted, the emotions I showed. Did they make you feel uncomfortable or scared?"

"No, Caelior. You didn't. You were being yourself. I'm not going to shit on you because you were sad and expressing your emotions. What kind of friend would I be if I did?"

"I appreciate that." he pursed his lips, looking down at his legs and feet. "I have not been so emotionally open with anyone like that in a very long time. While I have had some personal talks with Aegis and Yates, I am not as good friends with Aegis and Yates as you. While Aegis has been a good teacher, he is not very emotionally open. And while I confide in Yates, as she is an excellent medical professional and is very good at her job, I am not _friends_ with her."

"I see."

"Did you want to talk about any of the memories you saw?"

I shrugged. "Some of them were a bit intense. Don't you-"

"I have lived through them once. Talking about them again will not hurt me."

"Alright. Um...I saw Amera and you. I saw your parents and family members. I saw you fighting Trask, and meeting me."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Do you have any questions about them?"

I decided I was going to respond, but I'd stay away from the more impactful stuff. I didn't want to

"Um...I saw an image of your family, and I noticed one of your family members was wearing Battlemaster armor."

"Correct. My mother's great-grandfather. A natural birth, but retired. He re-entered service when the Synthesized invaded. He was close to the Battlemaster Tenabri. He died in the late stages of the war, destroyed by a Director Flagship while covering a colony's evacuation."

"I'm sorry. I...I don't know what to say."

"He and I were not on good terms, because of my, well, you are aware of how I was back in the Empire. I look back now and realize his various criticisms of me were correct. 'You are too arrogant', he said. 'Power is useless without strategy, Caelior'." His head dipped. "He died believing I was a useless child who did not deserve this power. And here I am, not even loyal to what's left of my kind anymore."

"Hey." I reached out, taking his hand. "You're doing the right thing here. If the Imperator keeps doing what he's doing, your people are gonna wind up extinct. Caelior, you took down a _Hiveship_. You've pulled _Cleanser Ships_ out of the sky. You're doing good things, for good people."

The footage of Caelior yanking a Cleanser Ship onto a battalion of Andromedons in Florida never got old.

"I know. I just wonder what my family would think of me if they were still alive. I know they would be proud of me for developing my talents, but…"

"But you're not with the Empire's remnants anymore?"

He nodded. "My family's views towards aliens was not exactly one of respect and love. They might have said that my mind would be corrupted, or that I had been tricked. But I was already tricked once by my own kind. I do not want to go back, Dawn. I _can't_ go back. I have been taken advantage of adults of my species before. It won't happen again."

His fists tightened, their around me beginning to-

"No. _No._ " He let go of his hands, the field dissipating. "I'm not losing control."

"Are you alright?"

"I am fine. Mostly." he cleared his throat. "Were you going to say something?"

"Yeah. I can't say that I haven't had issues with adults in the past, but I can relate. Growing up, a lot of adults I trusted, especially in my family, told me that I had to respect them because they were older and 'more experienced' than me. Which would make sense, only they'd turn and start spewing racist shit and conspiracy theories they got off Facebook and Twitter and stuff like that."

"I see. Well, I suppose adults can be universally flawed, then." He smiled. "I have a gift for you."

"Oh?"

He got off the bed, walking over to the large box. With a telekinetic wave of a hand, it opened. With the addition of a second hand, an Ethereal-sized bed and frame was lifted out of the box.

"I recently found out the bed I sleep in is able to be modified into a bunk. I found it slightly distasteful to have you, my good friend, sleep on the floor after all you have done for me."

I watched as Caelior lifted the bed above his, the two connecting with a _click!,_ while he pulled out a plastic bag, ripping several small screws from it which guided themselves into the holes connecting the two beds, locking them together.

No scissors required.

'"Do not fear. I have sheets and a pillow for you."

I got off the bed, taking a look at the bed. I watched as he 'made' the bed for me, manipulating the sheets and pillows to be near-perfectly aligned, as they hovered in midair, one by one being folded and attached to the bed.

Telekines and their powers.

"Wow. That's...damn."

"Do you like it?"

I snorted. "I don't like it! I love it! But uh, how do I get up and climb down?"

I meant that as a joke- I could easily use my augmentations to jump down if I had to, and I could easily use the structure of the two beds to climb up.

"Like this."

I was suddenly (gently) lifted onto the bed, landing softly onto the freshly made bed sheets. I laid my head back, sinking into the pillow. It felt even more comfy then the bed I had in the barracks. Then again, it was made to fit an Ethereal, so my small human form had more than enough space to move around on it.

"Caelior, This feels great!"

"I am glad you like it. Again, I thought it appropriate, since you and I are friends. Feel free to use it whenever you please. If there is anything else you require, please let me know."

"Oh, I'm more than happy right now. You have no idea how noisy it can get in the barracks."

"I can imagine. Now, I believe you said something about a movie?"

_Ninety Minutes Later_

The credits rolled as Caelior shut the TV off, putting the remote down.

"That was...very good. I see now why you recommended it to me. It was, how do you say... wholesome?"

"Wholesome. Right."

"It was. Giving those two robots emotions with so little speaking, including the one that disposed of waste, was most creative. While we had many automated systems in the Empire, some of which disposed of waste, I never would think such a miniscule idea could be given such personality."

"I saw this in the theaters with my family when it first came out. Best kid's movie ever, no exceptions. Loved it so much I went and saw it again, much to my sisters' chagrin."

He laughed. "You are lucky to have a family like that. But I would be more than happy to see this again."

"No problem. I got that disc version I gave you for my birthday. I was _so_ psyched when I opened it. My mom brought it over when the family came as a kind of nostalgic thing. Remind me to thank her the next time."

"That is nice. I'm glad things have gotten better with your family as of late. I was not expecting the conversation I had with them to go so smoothly."

"What, you expected them to freak out on you and start calling you names?"

He shrugged. "I thought they would be more intimidated or afraid of me. But I am thankful they view me in a less negative light now." He paused. "You never told me what their occupations were."

"Dad's a bartender, mom's a mechanic. Funny story on how they met, actually. Dad was driving home one night when his car broke down. Mom just happened to be around when that happened. She pulled over, and helped him fix it long enough for him to get it to a repair shop- _her_ repair shop. The two hit it off, and when the car got fixed, my mom handed my dad her number along with the bill."

"So... humanity's first biopath would never have existed if it was not for a faulty car part."

I burst out laughing. "When you say it like that, yeah. It's a good story, though. The two of them have been married for twenty-four years, with no signs of stopping. If that's not a good marriage, I don't know what is. But yeah, they're great people. They loved us, took care of us, put up with our bullshit, all of that. How about yours?"

"Mine is not so poetic as yours. My father was an engineer working on spaceships. My mother worked at...what you would call a 'zoo' in English. They met via a social network- something close to what you would call a 'dating app'. My father came to appreciate my mother's calm and caring nature- that is what made her so good at her job. My mother loved my father's intelligence. After a decade, they bonded. When they discovered my mother was pregnant a decade later, they were... _ecstatic_ would be an understatement. They lived on a colony world one system away from the homeworld, one of the first established in our species' history. Out of all that time, only one other natural birth had been conceived and born there."

"Wow."

"Natural births are very important to the Empire. When I was born, there were celebrations on the planet. From the moment I was born, as one of your sayings goes, 'I had a silver spoon in my mouth'. I was expected to achieve greatness, and I suppose in a way they never thought possible, I have."

"And here I was growing up in a typical middle-class American household."

"Everyone starts from somewhere. Not many ask about my parentage."

"Well, they're important to us. Parents raise you and help you become who you grow up to be."

"I suppose. Though I never had a biological sibling…." His head turned to me, his burning orange eyes staring at mine. "I am proud to say that I have one now, albeit not through blood, and very small."

"You mean that?"

"I do. I know we have known each other only for a month, but...you have done a good job of relating to me. You understand me, I understand you. You realize that human youth and most Ethereal youth are quite different. Your kind's young are more adventurous, rebellious, curious. You opened up to me, and I, in turn opened up to you."

"That's...thanks, Caelior."

"And that is why I am proud to call you _soleur_. Sister. Because you care about me. Like a loving sibling should."

I almost blushed. "Thanks."

"Alternatively, I could call you _human-soleur_ , which means ' _human-sister_ ' _,_ but it means the same."

"No problem. Brother."

He grinned, flashing his set of teeth. "Then we are even indeed. _Graneu staluten_ brain _ue minkl'ine._ Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head. I'd been reading the Ethereal script Aegis sent me over the past few days, and while my mind has been adjusting, I had a ways to go. The second-to-last word partially translated in my head to 'brain', so I wasn't totally out of the ballpark.

"Um...something to do with the brain?"

"Shared minds think alike. _Graneu_ , which is similar to your word 'generous', s _taluten_ , which means 'mind' in relative terms, 'brain _ue_ ', which means think-"

"Brainue?"

He nodded. "The reason you hear 'brain' and other English words when I'm saying that particular word is because you are getting adjusted to the language. Since the word being translated means 'think', your mind connects that work, in this case think, with a word associated with the brain. In this case, think."

"Oh."

"See? You are learning. The final word, minkl'ine, means alike. So, 'shared minds think alike'."

I pursed my lips. "That makes sense. Sounds a lot like 'great minds think alike', though."

"Indeed it does. The term originated from the first truly bonded couples in our history and the power of linked minds. Over time, it changed, but...well, you understand."

"Since we're similar, we see some things similarly."

He nodded.

"I know it is late, but...another time, would you like to do the memory exchange again?"

"Hmm?"

"It is something close friends did in the Empire, show each other memories to experience another life, albeit temporarily. I-"

"Yes. Yes, I'd like to do that again. If you want to."

He smiled. "Then in that, we are in agreement."

_Shared minds_ _**do** _ _think alike._

* * *

_Commander's Office, Praesidium_

_8/1/17- 2:30 Pm_

I sat down at the Commander's desk, unsure of why I was called here. All the message said was that I had to 'talk to him immediately'.

The Commander appraised me opposite his desk. "Dawn. Welcome. Thank you for coming."

I nodded. "Yes sir, but why am I here?"

"In short, it concerns you and your safety," he said. "I've become appraised of a potential development during the negotiation, one you should be aware of, even if it is now just a rumor."

"Uh...okay?"

His eyes directly fixated on mine. "In short, it is almost certain the Collective has identified you. They know that you are a Biopath and are now being deployed on operations. We are not certain how they verified this, but it is unfortunately faster than we anticipated. What is unconfirmed is that they have designated you as a target of Sicarius."

_What?_

"I'm sorry….what?"

I think my heart almost leapt out of my throat.

"Yes," he nodded, completely serious. "Directly from Sana'Ligna. Given her profile and current actions, I have little reason to doubt her."

I blankly stared at him, my mouth open. In any other situation, I would've looked like a slack-jawed moron. But here, it was a perfectly normal reaction.

"I don't know what to say." My voice quietened, as I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. "What does this mean for me?"

"A few things, the first is which we will need to consider your safety when there are deployments," the Commander laced his fingers together. "The number of missions you are deployed on may be consolidated, at least until we verify if there is truth to this. You will also, as a consequence, may be assigned to more high-profile missions due to the necessity of expertise in the event of an Ethereal encounter. You will be safe here, but there will be some precautions taken. It is earlier than I would like for anti-Ethereal training, but you will need to prioritize that in the Dreamscape."

I was trying to hold my reaction back, trying to hold it together in front of him.

But I wasn't doing a very good job. My whole body was shaking as I kept trying to process the thought.

I swallowed. "Does this mean I can't use my biopathy in the field?"

He shook his head. "No. But it should be used sparingly, if you can employ your telepathy, do so. However, you are not the first to be targeted, and you won't be the last. XCOM cannot afford to handicap itself. Do not be reckless, but do not let fear dominate. Understood?"

"Yeah. I just...no offense, sir, but I don't want to spend all my time cooped up in here."

He nodded. "And as I said, you won't be. However, there are considerations to make here, and there is no point risking you for little reason."

"I get it, sir. But why would they want to capture me?" I asked. "They must know I have the Restraints, and that if they try to take them out, I'll die."

He frowned. "Undetermined. Perhaps as a bargaining chip. Perhaps to attempt to reverse the restraints. Ultimately, it does not matter, both because the possibility is unacceptable, and because I have no intention of letting it occur. You have conducted yourself well thus far, and it is important you are appraised - even if this hopefully turns out to be a false rumor Sana heard. "

I gulped. "Um, thank you, sir. Can I go now? I...need to think about this."

"Of course," he nodded. "Take care, Dawn."

I barely listened to him as I practically ran out of his office.

* * *

_Mess Hall, Praesidium_

_Ten Minutes Later_

My hands shook as I sat on the chair, staring blankly at the wall as the food sat in front of me, ignoring the bustling people around waiting to be served. I'd tried to eat the roast, but...it tasted bland. I couldn't focus on it, not after what the Commander told me.

My heart was beating like crazy.

_They know who I am._

_They are coming for me._

_They want you dead, Dawn._

I gulped, clenching my hands as I tried to think about something, anything else. Guns, psionics, my friends, _something_.

But I couldn't. I just...I couldn't.

_If you never joined XCOM, you never would've had to worry about this._

I gritted my teeth, putting my head in my hands as I groaned. "No." I whispered to myself. "It's my choice, my consequences. Can't quit now."

_Okay, let's think about this again._

_The Collective knows - somehow. Mortis knew, which in turn he told Sana, who then told the Commander._

_Nice of her at least to do that._

_Maybe I'll dislike her a little less now._

_So now Sicarius is coming for you now, and probably her little boy toy is coming for the ride too. Obviously, the Imperator's gonna want you dead. But the Commander also said that 'capture' might be a thing, too._

_Gee, I wonder why._

_Doesn't the big guy in gold know that the Manchurian Restraints will kick in?_

_Then again…._

"Dawn?"

I turned around, sensing Kunio's presence. He had a worried look on his face as he sat down next to me with a tray of food.

"Hey, Kunio."

"Are you alright?"

I groaned. "Do I look alright? Course I don't."

"Did something happen?" He asked, this time with a more concerned tone.

"The Collective knows about me. They know who I am. Mortis told Sana, who told the Commander. They're sending Sicarius to kill me. Can you believe that shit? I'm a fucking celebrity now." I choked out the last bit.

_Don't cry._

_Not here._

_Not in front of him._

_Not in front of them._

All the color on his face instantly vanished. "Oh. I see."

"Yeah. But there's talk of them capturing me."

"Capturing you?" He frowned. "Ah."

I sniffled. "Yeah. They probably want me to be….well, you know. Like the others."

"Dawn, that's not going to happen."

"How do you know?" I said meekly. "I can't fight an Ethereal. I can't even tickle one for my own sake. At least Mortis sounded 'concerned', whatever the fuck that's good for. Who knows, maybe he might...ah fuck it, what does it matter? I've got a target on my back, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it."

I felt a tear about to drip from my eye.

_No! Don't._

I dropped my head to the table, staring at the metal.

_I can't beat her._

_I'm dead if I try._

_How're my parents going to feel when they get the notice I'm dead?_

_My mom almost lost her brother...she can't lose me._

_This is my fault._

_This is all my fault._

"Dawn?"

I looked up, realizing I'd just said all of that aloud. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be. Do you want to be left alone?"

I thought for a moment. "Yeah. I guess. But before you go, I want you to promise me something."

"Of course."

"If I go. If I die...look after my family. Make sure they're alright, keep them safe. Tell Grace..." My voice cracked, my face beginning to turn red. "Tell her that I loved her very much. Tell her I wished we could've spent more time together. Tell her I treasured every moment growing up with her. I know there are times she wishes that she was born with what I can do. She thinks it's only a gift, without realizing what else it means to be me. I love being here, but...I'm glad it's me here and not her. Tell her one day, she'll understand. Tell her that she can have my shit, that she can hang my armor on the wall, that it'll always be there, looking out for her. Can you do that?"

"I can."

"My parents, well...just tell them how I was. Tell them I was at home here. Tell them I enjoyed every damn second of being here. I know we had our differences, and that this wasn't the life they wanted for me. But this _is_ the life I have- and it's the one I want. Every time I pick up a gun, every time I put my armor on, something just feels _right_ , like I was made for this. I _want_ to go out there and fight, because I _like_ doing it."

I groaned. "Maybe I should've seen this coming, Kunio. I'm humanity's only biopath. Of course they'd want me out of the picture."

Kunio scooted closer to me. "Do you want me to leave?"

"I don't really know. I just don't know what to do. I'm going to have to deal with this sooner or later, but I don't know how."

Kunio turned to his food for a moment, taking a drink. "I think I have an idea."

"Mm?"

"Fiona once mentioned that she fought Sicarius in Florida. She might be able to give you some information on her and how she fights. Dreamscape's probably going to help, too. You're not thinking about fighting her, are you?"

"I'm not that fucking stupid. If I was a Sovereign Agent, then maybe. But it couldn't help to know more."

"Just making sure, Dawn." He sounded genuinely concerned. Who was I to blame him? "I'm worried about you."

I smiled. "Thank you for that. It means a lot. But...I think I'd like to be alone now. We'll talk later, I promise."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "I'm sure. I'll call you later."

Once Kunio left, a grin crawled onto my face.

_You want to do this, Sicarius?_

_Okay._

_Let's play._

I looked at my phone. "Julian?"

His insignia popped up on my screen. " _Yes?"_

I took a swing of my soda. "Send me every bit of information XCOM has on the enemy operative named Nico Murillo. I don't care if it's his blood type or or his favorite food. If it exists in your database, I want it."

" _May I ask why?"_

"Call it a personal matter."

" _That was rhetorical. I am always listening, and you are a very reckless girl if you are going to do what I suspect you are. Similarly, your friendship with the Ethereal that threw an aircraft carrier into Japan and killed thousands of soldiers touches my little electric heart. Now, please explain to me what you_ actually _intend if you want me to help and not also inform the Commander."_

I glared at the phone. "Fine. Settle in."

" _I'm listening."_

"You think I want to fight him, don't you?"

" _From your emotional state and mannerisms, yes."_

I smiled. "No. I don't want to fight him - difficult as that may be. No, Julian, I want to _understand_ him. We both know damn well I'll get butchered to pieces if I go up against him by myself. If anything, if someone ever does kill these Avatars, it's almost certainly going to be someone more powerful and experienced than I ever would be. I simply want to know what makes them tick, how they operate, how they do what they do. Is that so bad?"

The AI paused for a moment. " _By itself, no. Fine, you will get your information. But do be careful in how it is used - I'd hate to read your obituary. If you die in a stupid way, I will ensure that is how you are remembered."_

I sighed. "Thanks, Julian. I appreciate it."

_Two can play at this game, Ethereal._

* * *

To be continued in:

**The Woman with the Ashen Hair**


	18. The Woman with the Ashen Hair

_Dreamscape_

_8/2/17- 11:32 AM_

It wasn't every day you got a one-on-one session with a Sovereign Agent.

Not just any Sovereign Agent - one who had the guts to take Patricia on and survive.

I, of course, was talking about Fiona Dorren.

And being the nice friend of a friend she was, she was going to give me a personal lesson about the first addition to my rogue's gallery Sicarius, and her friend.

I was waiting for her in the Dreamscape, sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning against the obsidian-black wall, dressed in the same clothes I was wearing in reality, this being sneakers, shorts, and a t-shirt. As much as I liked the armor and its undersuit, I felt that walking around in the almost skin-tight yet comfy bodysuit felt a bit revealing, and the armor...well, as cool as it was, sometimes normal clothing fit the bill.

She appeared a moment later, in her stone armor with her sword on her back, carrying her helmet in her hand. I stood up to greet her.

"Hi, Miss Dorren." I extended a hand. We'd never really 'met' or had a one-one-one conversation outside of the first time I came to XCOM, and her sitting in the background while I hung out with Kunio.

She smiled, shaking my hand. The stone armor felt oddly smooth against my skin. "Fiona will be fine, no concern."

"Sorry. Anyways, thanks for coming. I really appreciate it."

She nodded, her tone of voice changing to one that sounded a bit more soft and comforting. "Of course. Kunio seemed concerned when he asked me to help."

"He was." I shuffled my feet, trying awkwardly - and failing- not to sound underconfident. "He's a good friend. First person I told about the...well, you know, _the thing_."

"Right, and you're obviously worried about it."

"Worried's an understatement, Fiona. I don't know if I should be more worried or play it off for dark humor and wear it as some kind of ironic badge of honor. I've been worried sick about it. I've been having trouble focusing, I keep thinking about it, and fuck, I've even had trouble sleeping. Shit, I had to borrow a friend's sleeping pills just to sleep well last night."

Fiona cocked her head. "That sounds like something you should talk to someone about. I can't help with that."

"I'm gonna talk to the therapist tomorrow, but I just felt it'd be best to face my fears. Hence, this." I gestured with my hands to the Dreamscape around me. "I thought that by talking to someone who's actually _fought_ her and lived, it could help."

She cracked her neck. "So long as you deal with it, then it's fine."

I sighed. "I know. Fuck, I even thought about asking Aegis to erase the memory, but realized how stupid that idea was!" My heartbeat started to pick up, my breath getting heavier. "Ignoring the problem isn't going to fix it, and I feel useless because I can't fight her and I'm putting my friends in danger and-"

"Hey. It's going to be okay."

She walked over to me extending a hand. I reluctantly took it.

"Look at me." She pointed at her eyes, which I looked into her. I couldn't get into her mind, nor did I want to, but I didn't feel a hint of malice or mockery. Her soft, British, voice felt...inviting. Comforting. "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure this out, both of us."

"I…" I stammered. "I don't know if I can. I don't know if I'm good enough for this."

"If you weren't good enough, you wouldn't have taken up Kunio's offer. You could have said no, but you didn't. You _cared_ , and you came here to show that."

I gulped. "Yeah. I guess I did." I said quietly. "I can't beat her."

"No. Not on your own. But you can learn from this."

"Yes. I...I can learn from this."

"Good." She smiled. "Feel better?"

"A little. I'm still- I don't know how to feel. I know I have a lot going for me. I want to get better. I'm not some kind of hero, just a soldier here like everyone else, just a little different is all."

"Well, that's true." She smiled. "A friend never liked heroes. They had a tendency to make enemies and end up dead."

"Hm?"

"Long story, but he was a good man - even if he had a good heart. There was another who had a different idea of heroes. I didn't really care for him, but he wasn't wrong about everything."

"What did he say?"

"That heroes were mouthpieces and figures of propaganda. Heroes were legends to legitimize the rule of others," she said. "He hated the concept entirely. He hated the idea that there were those who deserved more because they had a singular skill or talent others had. However, he did have his heroes, even if he never said it. They were the soldiers on the ground, the men and women who did their jobs without complaint. I can't say I had a good relationship with him - but his view on heroes was one I agree with more than not."

"Huh," I said. "I guess that's one way to look at it."I let out a breath, feeling my heartbeat start to return to normal.

_Whew._

She nodded. "Good. Now, are you ready to begin?"

I nodded. "Let's go."

She smiled again. "Very well. For this, I simply want you to watch. Alright?"

"Alright."

With a flick of the wrist, the scenery changed to an apartment complex. There was a parking lot across the street, and there was rubble and debris scattered all over the place.

"Pay attention."

An ADVENT squad ran down the street, yelling incoherently. One of the soldiers was carrying a wounded Officer, the person in question heavily bleeding from her right leg. Behind them, several groups of Mutons followed them, laying down a ton of gunfire.

_Are they running from-_

With a flash of purple energy, Sicarius appeared.

_It's not real, Dawn._

Before she could get to them, Fiona appeared, decked out in her armor, helmet on. She charged towards the Ethereal, making short work of the Mutons, using what looked like micro-teleports to dodge the gunfire, turning the Mutons into hamburger meat with her sword, her suit quickly becoming stained with yellow blood.

The two engaged in what I could only call a teleporting duel; the two danced around each other, using micro-teleports to doge each other's attacks and trying to get a hit on one another. The flashes of green, white, and purple made for a decent lightshow, as Fiona had to drastically slow the footage down- not even my enhanced vision could properly make out what was going on unless the footage speed was slowed to an almost comically slow speed. The duel continued for about another minute, until Fiona managed to get the upper hand by getting a hit on Sicarius's upper left arm. She didn't draw much blood, but she flinched, and that bought all the time she needed.

Fiona teleported again, reappearing behind Sicarius and stabbing her in the left leg, cutting through her armor like it was no big deal. Blue blood squirted out of the wound, as Sicarius roared, pushing Fiona back with a telekinetic attack. With a wave of a hand, Fiona pulled out a Sovereign Orb. Unlike the Dreamscape ones, which were about the size of a large bowling ball, this one was much smaller, like a baseball. When Sicarius saw the orb, she teleported away almost instantly.

Fiona clapped her hands, freezing the footage. "So, first impressions?"

_Where do I even begin?_

"Uh, well... I noticed those soldiers didn't notice her as she was about to kill them. That was her aura at work, right?"

"No aura is powerful enough to do that- that's something you have to directly impose against someone. Her aura is effective when she is passive and standing still. Doesn't work in a battlefield, thankfully."

"Oh."

"However, it's difficult for her to focus on both that _and_ combat in battle, so you should be able to see her if she attacks - however, again, as I said-"

"I'd probably be dead by then."

She nodded, noticing my tone. "You don't expect to fight her, do you?"

"No. I just want to know all I can about her. If she's going to try to kill me…" I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just trying to cope with this. It can't hurt to know more."

"I suppose not. But, as you saw, she teleports frequently, which is why I deployed the Sovereign Orb when I did. In Florida, we did something on a larger scale. Me and my fellow Agents dispensed Orbs all over the state. It basically allows for T'Leth to watch over an area, and alerts us if anything happens."She paused. "And that's Sicarius' biggest weakness, She's an assassin, not a warrior like a Guardian or the Battlemaster. She uses hit-and-run tactics, and drawn-out engagements against a prepared force aren't her forte. When she attacks, it's direct, fast, and quick."

"What about preventing her teleportation?"

She shrugged. "Having a large amount of Sovereign Orbs on hand or having the Psionosphere locked down - both of which are very hard to do."

"I see. And her Avatar?"

"Ah, him. Like other Avatars, he's not as powerful, but he is dangerous. However, he usually operates alone, or close to Sicarius. When I fought her, he was not around. He's much younger than the rest, though. Only a few months older than you. But, I did find something."

"Oh?"

The scenery changed again, this time to the bombed-out remains of what used to be a shopping mall.

"Watch closely. This is right after GAIA was activated."

A group of ADVENT MECs were firing on a group of Vitakara. Nico appeared from behind the robots, taking them down with several telekinetic attacks. As the aliens moved on, a large mass of GAIA nanites appeared from around the block. The aliens began to shoot at it, to no avail. The blood of nanites consumed them - one of which was right next to the Avatar. He let out an almost inhuman scream, backing away.

He grabbed his knife and started to stab his right wrist, as if he was trying to cut it off. He was yelling in Spanish, so I couldn't translate what he was saying, but I guessed that he, for lack of a better term, was freaking the fuck out, all the while the nanite swarm edged closer and closer. When it looked like he was about to get eaten, Sicarius appeared and teleported him away.

Couldn't really blame him - I'd probably freak out like that too if I saw a huge swarm of nanites trying to eat me.

"So...he was freaking out about the nanites? Besides, he's not exactly mentally stable."

"You think there could be something to it?" She asked. "Could be something that you could exploit if you had to fight him."

"What, you mean like a weakness?" I asked. "It's not like I'm going to throw nanites at him and he'll just go away."

"It could be nothing." She shrugged. " But it's something you could look into." With another wave of her hand, the scenery disappeared, returning to normal. "So, is there anything else you want to know about her?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so, Fiona. You were pretty straightforward about the whole thing."

"You feel any better?"

"Yeah. I do." Truth be told, I didn't feel _totally_ better, but I felt like enough of the weight had been lifted off of my shoulder to make it not feel like an end-of-the-world scenario.

She patted my shoulder, smiling. "I'm glad I could help. Is there anything you need from me?"

"No. I'm glad to see you're feeling better after New York, though. Kunio's lucky to have you as a teacher."

"Thank you, Dawn. I'm glad Kunio feels that way about me. He's a good student himself, and he's made a lot of progress since he came here. He's a good soldier, and I'm proud of what he's done so far."

"He's a good teleporter." I agreed. "I'm glad to have him as a friend, too."

She smiled. "I'm glad he's been a good friend to you. Having one is good when you're in a situation like yours."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

She waved a hand. "Not important. But I'm glad you're getting the help you need here."

"Thanks, Fiona. I really appreciate it."

"You too. I'll be keeping an eye out for you if anything happens." She winked. "Wish I could be here longer, but..." She gestured to the 'ceiling' of the Dreamscape.

"Sovereign Agent business?"

"Something like that. So long."

And with a wave, she disappeared from the Dreamscape, leaving me alone.

_Well, that was something._

All in all, the info hadn't been so much _revealing_ as it has been informative. I knew I couldn't beat her, no chance. But if I had a few more powerful psions or a Sovereign Agent, maybe I could have a bit of a chance. I trusted the Commander to make the right decisions when it came to picking missions for me, but at the end of the day, you can't predict everything in life.

And in a way, that's what made life so interesting. I didn't come out of the womb knowing I was going to have a sister. I didn't go to school knowing I was going to take a more...shall we say _unique_ job opportunity after high school ended that threw pretty much everything I knew out of the window. I didn't spend years trying to figure myself out while the whole time the thing that came to define me was napping within my DNA, waiting for a wake-up call.

And I didn't know that the personal assassin of an alien megalomaniac would ever be sent after me. Actions had consequences, and for better or worse, I made a bed and had to lay in it.

Actions my family had to pay the price for.

Actions my friends had to pay the price for.

Actions _I_ had to pay the price for.

Whether I liked it or not.

* * *

_Praesidium_

_8/4/17- 1:07 PM_

The Memorial Wall.

A somber reminded that war wasn't all about killing bad guys and saving the day.

Its design was simple: a large wall, currently about as long as an average hallway, with the XCOM symbol atop its middle. Each name was engraved upon a silver-colored bar placed on a white-ish backdrop. I'd heard they had to do some modifications to it after Patricia's attack, on account of the sheer amount of soldiers that had been killed - even XCOM's bloodiest missions paled in comparison to the friendly body count from _that_ event.

Even more than the Ravaged One's attack on the Citadel.

Back in the PRIESTs - and even before that, I'd seen videos of XCOM on the battlefield, facing off against the aliens. We'd all heard the stories of their deeds: taking on Ethereals and their followers, tearing them apart with their augmentations and their powers; like knights of yore, clad in power matched by no one else on Earth, a near-literal embodiment of the ancient war gods civilizations before us worshipped. The Greeks had Ares, the Romans had Mars, the Egyptians had Horus, and the Norse had Odin.

And, in a way, ADVENT had us.

I'd always wondered exactly why a people would need a deity based solely on war. Was it to empower their warriors before crushing their enemies? Was it to humanize the brutality of war, a way of showing the bloodshed and sheer amounts of death humans had reveled in ever since we could walk on two legs and carry a stick, in a more _overbearing_ fashion?

Humans had always fought - there was no denying it. It was simply a matter of the tools used. First the fist, then the club, then the spear, then the bow and arrow, then the sword, then the gun, and now, the mind itself, weaponizing a very fabric of reality to destroy like no weapon before it. With psionics, you didn't need a nuclear weapon to level a city. You could kill everyone in it with a thought, or burn it to the ground with Dynamo psionics.

Time and time again, as humanity progressed through the ages, we unlocked new tools to craft, to forge, to build, and to use for or against one another. We weren't barbarians, however- if we were true barbarians, we would've burned the whole damn planet to a crisp with nukes years ago.

Restraint was important.

Shame there were some people today who hadn't learned that lesson yet.

You and your species had to learn and manage your most basic, primal instincts. Otherwise, you're pretty much condemning your kind to extinction.

_Know your history._

_Because if you forget it, some idiot will come along and repeat it all over it again._

It reminded me of the War on Terror and the stories my uncle had told me. Well, 'reminded' wasn't the right word. I was pretty young then, learning about it solely through school, the Internet, and my uncle. The brutality of it was on a level no one had seen for years - the mutilations, the child soldiers, the fanatic devotion of the Caliph's forces with religious fervor on a level comparable to that of the ancient Crusades - it seemed like some kind of fever dream when you thought about it.

And then there was the mysterious 'Commander' figure who'd led the response. The crucifixions, the brutal decimation of enemy forces, the complete destruction of the Caliphate's head honchos, and the elephant in the room, the Commander's destruction of Mecca, the holy city that was the heart and soul of Islam.

I heard they'd killed this Commander via lethal injection after his campaign was over. As much as I was glad the Caliphate was gone, I wasn't exactly approving of what he'd done. Part of me was glad this...Commander figure was dead.

Could you imagine what that psychopath would've done if he'd been allowed to live?

Thankfully, XCOM's Commander seemed a lot saner. As symbolic as Mecca was to the Caliph, it was still a historical site, with thousands of years of history behind it. Its destruction was...not something I would've done, but history couldn't be undone.

And then there was discovering the fate of Van Doorn, my uncle's commanding officer. Poor Uncle Frederic had always wondered where he'd gone post - War on Terror. I couldn't tell him - but maybe one day I'd be able to.

But until then, I'd fight, just like he did.

Just like the people on this wall did.

The names on this wall, the ones lost on the battlefield who never came back to us. The representation of the dead, the honoring of their sacrifice, spoke volumes. There were many reasons why it's considered immoral to desecrate a grave or war memorial - honoring the dead was a sign of respect, an acknowledgement that even though these brave men and women had left us, the effects of their actions still walked this Earth, a testament to their achievements and bravery.

I read over the list of names, many which I didn't recognize. Which was understandable - I hadn't been here for that long, and while I knew a lot of XCOM's past exploits, I felt like I learned something new every day.

_Let's see...Liam Jaster, Abigail Gertrude, Oliver Ilari._

Now _those_ names I recognized. The first guy died when they took down that Dreadnought fragment over China, the second one died when she committed suicide to avoid giving up some intel, and the third one sacrificed himself to buy the evacuees time when Creed's ex decided to make her break-up with him official.

_No one could survive that. I mean, a dreadnought falling on you? Disintegration? That's impossible to live through._

_We won't forget what you've done for us._

_Ever._

The first two had apparently been OG XCOM soldiers, having been there since the beginning. While Oliver had joined up after Australia, he'd been in many battles - Beijing, South America, Sherman...they'd all seen so much more action than I had. I knew I shouldn't compare myself to them because of the circumstances, but simply _being_ here, seeing their names and knowing what they'd done for all mankind was a strange kind of intimidating. Here I was, standing in the shadows of giants who'd spearheaded some of XCOM's most audacious operations - and paid the ultimate price.

A fate that probably awaited me sooner or later.

So many ways to die now these days. Burned to a crisp by energy from another plane of existence. Possessed by an eldritch being. Getting cut in half by a giant sword. Getting force-choked. It was almost, in a dark way, amusing how many ways you could kill someone now with the rapid progression of our knowledge.

Then again, if you told someone a hundred years ago that Humans would go to the moon, they'd call you crazy. Just how I'd react if someone showed me a picture of...well, me as I was now, clad in armor with my rifle next to me, when I was still in school.

But the overall message of the memorial wall was clear enough.

_You could join them one day. But you won't be forgotten._

It made you wonder, though.

_What did they fight for?_

Well, at face value, that was easy enough. XCOM protected humanity from the alien threat, so they signed up to do just that. Easy, right? Well, no. At first, in the early days, it was that simple. We didn't know they were called the Collective, we didn't know about the Bringer or the Sovereigns- hell, we didn't even know what an Ethereal was.

But, as war does, it changes.

First Nartha, then Aegis, then Caelior...we learned more every time. And as we learned, it got more complicated. The Collective wasn't a unified monolith- far from it, really. Just a group of alliances with the Ethereals being the glue that held it together.

But the hypothetical glue wasn't as strong as it thought.

_What are you fighting for, Dawn?_

_What do you want?_

I wanted... hmm.

In the PRIESTs, I simply wanted to use my abilities to protect others. But here, things were different.

And my priorities had changed.

I still served mankind, but in a different sense. XCOM had given me a real purpose, a real meaning in life. For all its problems, mankind had gotten better through ADVENT- but there was no ADVENT without XCOM. Without us, they'd never have gotten into where they were today. In a way, XCOM was more than ADVENT ever was, and ever could be.

We were the progenitors of ADVENT. We were the first ones in this war.

And we would be the ones to end it.

But this war was a trial run, really. As dangerous as the Ethereals were, they paled in comparison to the Synthesized. Much as the Imperator saw them as a threat, he and our resident scumbag traitor didn't see the _whole_ picture. Even if he did defeat us, it was only a matter of time until he pissed off another Sovereign and got the floor wiped with his own corpse.

ADVENT and XCOM, on the other hand? We saw things differently- and had advantages the Ethereal Empire of old never had. We had foresight of what was coming. We had a friendly Sovereign One. We had an advantage, and couldn't waste it. As dangerous as the Collective was, in their desperate attempt to 'break the cycle', they were only going to repeat it. Their Avatars were nothing more than crappy knockoffs of _actual_ Sovereign Avatars like the Chronicler or the Voice. And don't even get me started on using the Bringer.

If... _it_...got out, it'd gun for _everyone_. Entire planets turned into copies of Beijing, billions and billions turned into thralls- not a pretty picture.

A picture we had to stop from being made, or else we were all doomed.

But we had a chance, a chance to make a difference. Although by the time we fought the Synthesized, I'd definitely be dead by then. But if we didn't fight _now_ , we'd lose our only chance at getting to fight them on our terms, and not the Imperator's.

And that was assuming the Commander's successors would be as good at their jobs as he was now.

But that's what I wanted.

That is, if we won of course. Seemed like the odds kept on stacking against us every day.

It made one wonder what would come next. Right now we were fighting a defensive war, which made sense. Sure, we _could_ advance, but the Collective outnumbered us in soldiers and resources alike. They'd reclaim it eventually.

But we couldn't be on the defense forever.

So what were we buying time for, then? What ace in the hole was going on in the background they weren't telling us about?

_What secrets are you keeping, Commander?_

_Better be some good ones, 'cause without some, we're screwed._

Wasn't my place to ask about that, though. As the saying went, loose lips sink ships. And if _this_ ship sunk, well then this war would be over before I could say 'Fuck Patricia Trask'.

But I could think about that later- I had a delivery to make.

* * *

_Barracks_

_Several Minutes Later_

I stopped outside of the Barracks, with the small plastic box in my hand. I wanted to go in, but felt...anxious about it. It's not like I'd get in any trouble for doing so. The rules were pretty lax on people of the opposite sex going into each other's barracks, but people mostly kept it separate. If people wanted to meet up to...well, you know, there were places for that.

I didn't really feel comfortable going in there, as I felt out-of-place, and that a lot of the men there were much larger than me, even more so then the women.

I looked through the door, and rapped on the door. One of the guys noticed me and walked over.

"Yeah?"

"Ah, is Geist here?"

"He is. Why?"

"Can you tell him to come over here? I got something for him."

He nodded, and walked away for a few minutes. Geist came to the door, in a t-shirt with German writing on it, and shorts.

"Dawn. Do you need something?"

"No. I wanted to give you this." I gave him the small box, which he accepted.

"What is it?"

"A gift. Token of appreciation for all you've done for me."

He appraised the box, looking over it. "Follow me then."

I followed him to a nearby table, where we both sat down. Geist opened the box, his neutral look changing almost instantaneously as he gingerly inspected the box's contents.

The contents themselves were pretty sentimental - a picture of me at my high school, my first day of PRIEST orientation, me in my Aurora armor for the first time. Little snapshots of my life, in picture form. Copies, of course. The originals were all backed up on the cloud.

"I figured that after all you've done for me, I thought you deserved something in return. You've helped me grow into someone different, so…" I gestured to the pictures. "I thought you deserved to see me before, well, all of this."

He picked up one of the older pictures, with a much younger me with the family Saint Bernard on my lap. "Thank you, Dawn." His voice was softer than usual. "I appreciate you sharing this with me."

I nodded. "My parents helped out. My mom always knew how to use a camera."

"It seems she did." He put the picture down. "I do appreciate you performing as well as you do, despite my unorthodox methods." He briefly paused. "While I am suspicious if you would have been a skilled student in chemestry, there is no doubt that you would have applied yourself to it well. Your teachers were fortunate to have you. It is more rare than you know to have such students."

I smirked. "I never did like chemistry all that much."

"No, but you understand that your likes and dislikes are irrelevant beside necessity. For that I am thankful, and have acquitted yourself well."

"Really?"

He nodded. "It is unfortunate the war has put you in these circumstances, but you have shown you will be able to handle them. It is fortunate you were the one who was gifted with Biopathic capability. There are many your age who…" he waved a hand. "Would not have been responsible."

I smiled. I pictured one of the jocks or mean girl types from high school being in the same position I was.

_What a shitshow that would've been._

"What can I say? I'm glad I won the genetic lottery."

"As am I."

We were both quiet for a moment, as Geist appraised the pictures spread out all over the table.

"Geist?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever happened to that test you mentioned a while ago?"

"Postponed. The Commander will be placing you in some higher-level training simulations in the coming days."

I paused for a moment, considering what he'd just said. "You mean anti-Ethereal ones."

"Yes. Although I will still be involved with your training, you may be seeing me less. You will be working with larger teams and more experienced soldiers. These simulations will be harder than what you've experienced before."

I gulped. "I see. When's it starting?"

"Soon. You will be notified." He paused, looking at the pictures again clearing his throat "Thank you, Miss Conway. Unfortunately, I will need to end this conversation."

"Duty calls?"

"Indeed it does."

"See ya!" He got up and left, but not before carefully putting everything back in the box and closing it, giving me a farewell nod as he walked away.

"Goodbye."

I planned on giving one to Sierra when she got back, since she'd been so helpful with combat and fighting in general. I wouldn't know half of the things I did about how XCOM did their operations. (Hell, probably more than half, to be honest). She'd stuck her MEC neck out for me and had me tag along with her gang of jetpack enthusiasts.

Once she got back from Turkey, I'd give it to her. We _did_ text each other sometimes, though. Mostly her checking up on me, asking how things were, that kind of thing. Though it hadn't been as often in recent days.

She was nice, what could I say?

I planned to give one to Carreria too - when she was off-duty, of course. She'd been on a few missions lately, racking up kills and such. I hadn't had the chance to talk to her, but hopefully I could have a chat with her soon about having a target painted on my back by the Collective.

But I had other things to worry about besides conversation.

Like, say, _the news_.

I didn't know if - or when I should tell my parents about it. While they had become more supportive of my, ahem, new job occupation, they were still on the fence about my overall activities. I couldn't blame them - even with the other families in the Family Base helping them out, they still had reservations about what I was doing. When they'd find out about _this_ , I had no idea how they'd react. Would they want me to leave for good (even though there was no way in hell I was doing that)? Would they have another fight?

I almost bit my tongue thinking about all the ways this could hurt the already somewhat shaky relationship between them and XCOM. My sister was, thankfully, another story. She was all-aboard with my decision from day one, and had been overall a linchpin in me adjusting to XCOM. Hell, she and Caelior were even getting along. She'd been helping him with the various intacricies of the internet and social media.

Add that to the list of surprises.

I knew I should tell them eventually, but I was still nervous about the actual deed.

And then there was Caelior.

I planned to tell him soon about it, but first I had to worry about _myself_. In the days following the news, I'd been super anxious. I didn't want it to affect my performance, but really, it _could_. I knew the best way to cope with it was to try to think about something else, but I just _couldn't_. He already disliked Sicarius (albeit much less than before), but the big guy already had a lot on his plate psychologically, just like me.

Then again, honesty was the best policy, and lying to him could only lead to bad things.

On the other hand, with some help from Sierra and Ted over a videocall, I'd put a plan into motion to repay Caelior for what he'd done for me recently. It'd take some time, but it was _so_ going to be worth it when it was finished. The gift was getting there - 3D printers were a bitch to figure out how to use, but it would be _so_ worth it to see the look on the big guy's face when he saw the finished product.

As for the _second_ gift, that was much easier. All I had to do was take something already available from the requisition terminal, make a few modifications (thank XCOM's quartermaster section for helping out with _that_ ), and now I was just waiting for it to be shipped.

But, one thing at a time.

* * *

_Therapy Office, Praesidium_

_8/7/17- 2:32 PM_

"I think I worry too much."

Yates looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Can you elaborate?"

"Sure. I was talking with the Commander, and I kind of vented to him about how I worry about my mind being twisted if I ever got captured. I know that it's never going to happen, but ever since I got here, I have so much more on my mind then ever before."

"That's perfectly understandable. Going from high school to this is a pretty big jump."

"Well yeah, but it's not really just that. I mean, sure, the first days in the PRIESTs were hell for me and everyone else, but I got over it." I ran a hand through my hair. "I think it's the information, really."

"How so?"

"Back in the PRIESTs, yeah, we had lots of information to pour over. But it was pretty basic. Here, there's _so much_ , and it's incredibly in-depth. Stuff on Bringer orders, backgrounds and misdeeds of various races. It shows you just how much of a threat the enemy really is, and that's the scary thing. Back in the PRIESTs, while I had my issues, I was fine with what I had. I could control people and kill them. Okay, simple enough. But when I discovered my biopathy, and came here, it blew the door wide open on _everything_. I knew the hows and the whys of everything. Why did the Ethereals invade? Here you go. What goes on behind the scenes? Here you go. Why did Patricia betray us? Here you go."

"And that information intimidates you?"

I shrugged. "I don't want to say _intimidate_ \- well, I guess it does. But it answers a lot of questions I never had, and some that I never wanted to ask or be answered. And that opens up a whole new realm of information for me. Like, take the Bringer. I haven't fought any Bringer soldiers in the Dreamscape yet, but I'm scared for when I do that when I get into their heads, I might get corrupted. I see Battlemaster footage, and I see how easily he could kill me in so many ways. Shit like that spawns all these anxieties and worries for me, even I know that it's improbable or will never happen."

She took a note on her pad. "So you recognize that a lot of your worries are impossible, or at the very least unlikely, but you still think about them?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think your anxiety is affecting your performance?"

"I don't think so. I'm doing pretty well, and I'm having fun when I do simulations and hang out with my friends. Granted, a lot of them are out there fighting right now, but they're fun people."

"What do you find satisfying and enjoyable about your friends?"

"It's a lot. Sierra taught me a lot about fighting and combat. She's been here for a long time, too. When she's here, she messages me, asking if I want to do a sim with her and her friends. It's fun listening to her stories, you can learn a lot. Kunio...Kunio's kind of like a 'cool uncle' figure to me. He looks out for me, and we talk a lot. He's not someone my age, but he makes a good job of relating to me, and I appreciate that. Caelior...well, he's complicated."

"How so? You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

"Oh, it's nothing personal." _At least I won't mention anything personal._ "It's gonna sound weird, but in a way, he's the closest person XCOM has to a teenager like me. He's been through a lot, but he's still young, like me. We don't really do anything in the Dreamscape, but that's not really necessary. I stay overnight in his room. I show him movies-who knew an Ethereal would like Disney movies so much?-we play video games, and we just talk about our lives. Honestly, it's as close to normal as we both can get right now. When we hang out, it's just...calm. No shooting shit, no watching your bunkmates talk about pre-war military experiences and not being able to relate, no killing. Just peace, really."

"So for you, being with him gives you a sense of normalcy because of your relatability?"

"Yeah. He's not one of my friends from high school, but he's the next best thing. Hell, he's better."

"Better how?"

"It's a two-way street there. He teaches me things, I teach him things. He's smarter than I'll probably ever be, and I feel like he _gets_ me better than the adults here. We trust each other, and that goes a long way." I smiled. "That's all I'm comfortable with right now, Yates."

I didn't want to talk about his unmasking or the memory viewing session. I didn't feel like I could explain it right, and I felt like talking about it would betray his trust, due to how sensitive Ethereals viewed that kind of thing.

"That's fine, Dawn. Good job expressing yourself back there."

I almost blushed. "Thanks. I do my best."

She smiled. "I know you are. Now…" She scrolled through her pad, muttering to herself. "I wanted to bring up something you've mentioned previously."

"And what's that?"

"Killing. You've mentioned in previous sessions that you've had issues with it. Now that you've been on several missions, I'd like you to talk about how you feel about the act now."

"Oh. That." I shrugged. "It's a big part of the job, and now that I've actually, well, 'done it', it feels normal to me. Call me desensitized, but now that I've done it in real life, it doesn't really affect me, as pretty much all of my killcount now is Mutons. I see an enemy, I shoot it."

"I see. And you have no reservations about it?"

I shrugged. "I mean, it's not like the Commander is going to order me to kill civilians. Besides, I encountered civilians in Malabo and I wasn't ordered to kill them. And I don't think that any Squad Overseer in their right mind would order us to kill innocents, anyway."

"Understandable. Do you have any concerns about combat besides killing?"

"I mean, I worry about me or my friends and teammates dying. But I guess everyone here does. I have a lot of connections here, which I like. But it also makes me afraid that one day they'll walk out those doors and not come back."

"When you say 'friends', do you think that the friends here are closer to you then in high school?"

I nodded. "That's true. While they're older here and may not get the stuff that I grew up with, it's...complicated. My friends in high school were my friends for different reasons. A lot of us grew up together in the same neighborhood, went to each other's houses as kids, that kinda thing. Lower school, middle school, high school, it was all pretty fluid. We complained about shit, gave each other advice, supported each other when we had to. We weren't blood related, but as they say, you get to choose your family. And back in Nashville, we chose each other. And it's kind of the same thing here. When I chose to join XCOM, I'd be leaving everything behind. And when I came here, I made a new family."

"Your new family being the soldiers you work with?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Which is why after what happened, I'm just...all over the place."

"You mean what the Commander discovered at the negotiations?"

"Yeah. I know the Collective's going to come for me. I thought it'd take more time, but I guess I just do with what I have. I feel like any mission I'll go on in the future is going to automatically endanger anyone else on my team and mark them for death simply _because I'm there with them_. I know Sicarius can't come here - it's an instant death for her. But out there in the wild- I'm as game as anyone else. Vulnerable. If she comes for me, I can't rely on sheer dumb luck to save me. Unless a Sovereign Agent or friendly Ethereal shows up, I'm dead."

"I understand that. You don't want to endanger your friends further than they already are."

"Yeah."

She nodded. "It's good you show sympathy for your fellow soldiers. However, you must remember that they signed up to join XCOM, and hereby the risks associated with it."

"I get that, Yates. I just feel guilty that I'll be putting another burden on them on top of everything else they have to worry about."

"Are you worried about them maybe rejecting or socially isolating you because of it?"

"I don't know. I'm just afraid that they won't like me for putting even more danger on them."

She wrote more on her pad. "I see. I think I have something that could help."

"Yeah?"

"Talk to some of your bunkmates and friends about this. Tell them how you feel and what you're afraid of."

I raised an eyebrow.

She gave a slight smile. "I think you underestimate your friends sometimes. You are not the only XCOM soldier to be marked for death by the Collective." She put down her pad. "Dawn, I understand this is very stressful for someone, particularly of your age. But you seem to be afraid that the people around you for some reason are going to dislike you for something out of your control. They aren't. The reason I want you to talk to them is to get something from their perspective. You're their friend as much as they're your friends. Being open to them is going to help a lot."

I gulped.

"Sure. I'll do it. I'll talk to Caelior about it, too."

"Are you afraid of him judging you?"

I shook my head. "No, not really. I'm just concerned it might affect his mental state."

"Why do you think that?"

"He doesn't like Sicarius - at least, less than before, anyway. I just don't want him to become more stressed then he already is."

She nodded. "But you're his friend. Wouldn't _not_ telling him hurt your friendship later on?"

"Yeah, and I know."

"I know you're nervous about this, Dawn. But I don't think you're going to hurt Caelior by telling him this. If anything, he's going to appreciate you being honest to him. After all, how would you feel if he kept something like that from you?"

I shrugged. "That's fair."

"But it is good you brought it up in the first place. It shows you care, no?"

"I guess. I'm going to tell my parents about it next week when I have time. I just...need to deal with myself and how I feel first."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "Honesty's the best policy, yeah? Besides, I feel like I should. If I just keep on keeping them in the dark about some of the things I do, that's gonna hurt our relationship even more."

"That's fair. But aren't you worried about their reactions?"

"Yeah, I am. But they're still kind of on edge about me joining XCOM. It feels wrong to not say it."

She smiled, closing her tablet. "Thank you, Dawn. You've made some great progress today."

"I have?"

"Well, recognizing things that we talked about is a sign of good character. Many people would deny having done something wrong to preserve their own ego or perceived self-worth."

"I'm guessing you've seen that in other patients?"

"You could say it that way. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"No, not really."

She smiled. "Well then, looks like our session is over."

I got up. "Bye, Doctor!"

"Bye, Dawn."

I walked out of her office, sighing. I promised her I'd find time to talk to my loved ones and friends about how I felt.

_Your parents aren't going to hate you for this. The truth is what matters. Caelior's not going to get mad at you. You have to face these things eventually, whether you like it or not._

Alright then.

Had to happen sooner or later, I guess.

* * *

_Barracks, Praesidium_

_8/8/17- 4:09 PM_

" _One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human."_

_You know, I don't think Mr. Eiseley ever expected that quote to ever mean something that literal in such a time and place like this._

_I just hoped he would have lived to see this quote mean something...more._

_When my English teacher first brought this up in a discussion, I'd be lying if I said it didn't stand out from the other quotes we'd heard. What did it mean? Did 'other than human' mean animals, like dogs or elephants? Was it a metaphor for how us humans, Earth's apex predators, treated beings who were not as developed as us? Was it a sign of advanced intelligence that we created laws and rules treating animals like humans?_

_Maybe._

_It'd be easy to think that with the humane treatment of animals, even teaching some how to use basic tech and communication skills, that'd be the end of it. Rather than brutally culling them and giving in to animalistic instincts, we showed them the compassion we show each other, because it's the right thing. As brutal as we can be, truth is, kindness and compassion is one of our strengths, something that's held us together throughout the ages. From the first tribes living in caves to the one world hyperpower that is ADVENT, the connections and trust we put in another have gotten us so far._

_Look at dogs, for example. Way back when, since the first wolf decided to follow humans for its next meal, the co-dependence formed from throwing them a bone ironically became literal. Over thousands of years, man engaged in early forms of breeding and genetic manipulation to create thousands of breeds, tailored to every need. Need a hunter? Done. Need a guard? Done. Need something cute to pet? Done. We turned a ferocious hunter and predator who primitive man feared into a fluffy little cutie who's become our best friend._

_But what if a being on or above our level entered the picture? One with their own cultures, religions, and perspectives, who call an alien world their home? One that had a consciousness and sapience on a level that a human could understand, able to perform actions like solving a math problem, figuring out a moral dilemma, finding right and wrong, and so on._

_What do we do then?_

_And that's where I come in._

_Me and Caelior are friends - good ones. We've learned a lot about each other, and grown close._

_In fact, I suppose one could say I've figuratively caught the reflection from an eye other than human._

_Isn't that something?_

_I have no doubt I've helped him with his mental health. I don't mind him venting to me- why wouldn't I? We understand each other, and in a friendship, that's the best thing you can hope for._

_But the most important aspect of it?_

_Understanding._

_The understanding behind what made him him, and how his kind really isn't the best when it comes to the 'it takes a village' trope. He's more than those cheesy action figures ADVENT made of him and just another Ethereal in robes. Like everyone, he learned and grew when given something new. He has a new family now. He's working out his issues, the years of god knows what his people fed him to be a better tool. It's going to take years to fully undo what's been done to him, but damn if I can't say he's made a great start._

_Well, maybe not everyone of his race, I guess. Some Ethereals haven't truly learned the lessons and failures of the Empire._

_But we can._

_Talking to him, seeing his memories - it painted a greater picture of the galaxy for me than I'd ever imagined. Seeing the headquarters of the Maelstroms, the inner workings of an Empire-era Temple Ship, seeing a popular vacation hotspot on his planet; it made me realize there's so much out there to be found, to be uncovered._

_As for what he's learned from me?_

_Well, that is quite the question, isn't it?_

_You'd think that showing him old Disney movies and talking about your old school life would be boring to someone so intellectually advanced compared to me, but no. If anything, the emotional aspect of things have made him more invested in it. Ethereals aren't on the same level of emotional expressionism as us- some would even say limited, though I'd disagree. The environment he was raised in was different from mine, but in its own way, it failed him. It poisoned his mind with propaganda that he was somehow superior, that his race was superior because of what they brought to the table._

_And if we hadn't come along, I suspect he may as well have been killed by one of the Imperator's hairbrained schemes. Hell, he even told me outright that the Battlemaster wanted him dead when he went to fight Aegis._

_But I am...concerned about him._

_While he still has a ways to go, like me, I fear for what'll happen to him if I am killed. We've only known each other for a short amount of time, but the impact we've had on each other- it's like a bond. We don't have a real one, obviously, and we never will. If anything, the 'bond' is more of a grounded one, a friendship and nothing more._

_If I die, I can't begin to predict what'll happen to him? Would he go on an anger-fueled rampage? No, that's...not like him. Not anymore. If anything, it could damage his psyche even more. He could become suicidal. Can Ethereals get depression? I know they can get PTSD, but...he's still young like me. Both of our minds are fragile. I know it'll get better over time, but it's something I can't ignore._

_But what happens to me if he dies?_

_I'll have lost a friend - a close one. I've called him brother, and I meant every word. He's called me sister, and he meant every word. He's a part of my life now. We care for each other, open up to each other. Two peas in a pod._

_But I'm afraid of what'll happen to me when he goes._

_Will I have a breakdown? Lock myself in the shower and cry my heart out?_

_I don't want to think about, but at the same time it's something I can't ignore._

I sighed, putting down the tablet.

_I think that's enough for today. Maybe next time, I should ramble about something else that doesn't involve your friends dying?_

Well, there was a lot to think about.

The negotiations had actually done pretty well, with no fuckups from either side. I was surprised they actually gave the Second Guardian back, but what we got in return was equal to her worth to the Collective, I guess. Every human captive taken _ever_ in the Collective, resources, food for our resident alien defectors, relief on a few fronts, some advanced technology for XCOM, and most notably, a ban on Bringer soldiers and all the fuckery that involved them.

_Thank fuck for that._

While I think every human on Earth would be grateful that no more nightmarish abominations would walk on our soil, it made me wonder what the Collective would fill the hole with. Maybe something from Mosrimor, perhaps?

Eh, only time would tell.

The reaction in XCOM was...mixed. Some soldiers approved, others didn't. I knew for sure R&D and Engineering were busting their collective (pardon the pun) nuts over the tech we got. But they weren't the ones on the battlefield who would probably have to fight the Second Guardian _again._

Well, add her to the list of who I'd probably fight in an anti-Ethereal simulation.

The public, however, seemed even more divided. While many were thankful their loved ones were coming home safe and sound, many still were pretty pissed that the Second Guardian hadn't faced justice. Countless videos of people whose family members or loved ones had died due to her actions had popped up across social media reacting to her...departure. Lots of crying, lots of anger, and a hell of a storm on social media. Peaceful protests had popped up all across the globe against the decision, with some anger even being directed towards XCOM.

As for how I felt?

Well, I couldn't help but feel _slightly_ betrayed. All that hard work for kicking an Ethereal's ass and she got to walk away scot-free. If I was in charge, I'd have her killed ASAP. Then again, there was a reason - well, many reasons I wasn't in charge here, and probably never would be. I didn't have the guts or tact to make the decision the Commander and his Internal Council made, and my attitude and personality didn't exactly speak 'awesome leader'.

Oh well. I was fine where I was.

I'd talked to Sierra briefly after her mission in Turkey, to help with the...gift I was planning for Caelior. She's fought an Avatar point-blank for the second time, this one being Macula's Avatar, and this time, the Avatar wasn't trying to kill her like Yang in Florida. He'd gone right under her nose and taken a captive, some guy named Kaan, and booked it. Apparently he was backed by some SAS mercs with skulls painted on their helmets.

Edgy.

The new Avatar was interesting. He was Swedish, ex-SOG. Tall and intimidating, a powerful telekine with a thing for axes (really pushin that Viking heritage, aren't we?) and a bit older than the other Avatars. Hammer Chick had instantly taken a disliking towards him (fair), and called him some less-than-complimentary things in Swedish. If anything, he seemed almost as powerful as Yang, only without the fancy armor and immunity to telepathy.

_Great. Another traitor to kill. Although I have to give it to Macula for getting an Avatar that isn't just a cheap copy-and-paste of what they can already do._

_Bunch of masked freaks, if you asked me._

_They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but the way I see it, some books shouldn't even be read in the first place._

All in all, things were pretty good right now.

For the moment.

But I knew it wouldn't be like forever, and things could always get worse.

All we had to do was wait for their next move.

The conflict had begun to feel like a constant game of escalation after escalation, with both side holding nothing back. I felt like every day the whole world lost more and more of its mind,

It made me wonder what I would do if we lost.

Would I make some kind of final stand, somewhere? Would I ask T'Leth to take pity on me and hide me somewhere? Would he ask me to join him? Would I go into hiding, maybe on some backwater planet where the Collective would never find me, spending the rest of my days in seclusion? Or would I bite and bullet and end myself, keeping myself out of their hands for good?

All the more reason to do my part, I suppose.

But if this war was going to come to an end, it'd be up to the people in charge to end it for good.

* * *

_Arms Range, Praesidium Exterior_

_8/10/17- 12:58 AM_

Carreria fired, the shot hitting the target, the dummy falling over.

"Nice shot."

"Thank you. I had a lot of target practice recently."

"You mean the Aui'Vitakar raid?"

"Indeed. Although we didn't capture as many as we believed, the operation was something of success, I suppose."

" _Something?_ "

"The mission went as planned - at first. We got in there, killed some guards and turrets, then got into the meeting chambers. Then Miridian ordered us out, and after the Sovereign teleporter got us out, the whole building exploded."

"Wait, you blew it up?"

She growled, shaking her hairy head. "No. We had no explosives on that level. It had to be some kind of explosive planted under the Aui'Vitakar."

I unclipped my psi rifle, putting it on the stand. "So...who the hell put the bomb there, Carreria?"

"Must have been the Zararch. They must have known we were coming, and let us kill them."

"But why? That makes no damn sense! Why the hell would they _let_ you kill their ruling body?"

"You must remember, Dawn, that the Aui'Vitakar is a puppet government. While they have minor influence, the Zararch holds the real power. Getting them out of the picture would allow them to justify some kind of government 'transition of power' and solidify their hold over my people - as well as to further demonize the Nulorian and Humanity. I do not know if it is confirmed, but it would make sense why the Speaker was not there that day."

Hm.

_So, if she's right, Miridian got played like a fiddle._

I shook my head, listening to the desert winds blowing. I'd never been outside of the Praesidium like this before, but it wasn't too bad. The sea of sand dunes around us wasn't a bad sight, too. There was something about just staring at the seemingly endless amount of dunes, with sand and wind blowing from place to place, the whistling of the wind in your ear...something about it was oddly peaceful, a refreshing break from the chaos and insanity that ruled daily life here.

Never thought I'd be saying that sentence ever.

"So...the mission was a failure, then?"

"I have a feeling the ramifications from it will greatly affect my people. I feel like I may have inadvertently helped our enemy."

"Hey, don't be like that." I said, putting a hand on her...paw...hand...whatever you called it. "You couldn't have known about that."

She growled. "I know, little cub. I know. But it still hurts me to think that what I've done will only hurt my people more." She muttered to herself in Borelian, probably a curse word. "But that will come later, I suppose. How are you doing, Dawn?"

"Not that good, I guess."

"How so?"

"Well, let's start out with the fact that the game's up for me. Sana told the Commander at the negotiations that the Collective knows about me, and the Imperator's going to send Sicarius after me."

She blinked. " _What?_ "

"Yep. I wish I was joking, but-"

"Sana'Ligna - _the_ Sana'Ligna- _warned you_ about this?"

I nodded. "She did. I believe her words were, and I quote 'I do not wish for another child to perish in this war.'

She put a paw to her mouth, shaking her head. "Unbelievable. That is...I understand you do not see her in the same view as we do, but alone to be recognized like that by an Elder is-"

She noticed my raised eyebrow. "I apologize. I-"

"It's fine." I said, waving her off. I know you didn't mean anything by it." I chuckled. "Guess I'm something of a celebrity now, huh?"

"Are you using dark humor?"

I smiled. _Look who's learning._ "I guess. It's been tearing me up recently, honestly. The therapist helped me a bit, and I'm going to tell some of my friends about it- starting with you, I guess." I rubbed my forehead, wiping some sweat off of my face.

"So you want to talk to me about it?"

"I don't. I just wanted you to know, you being my friend and all. Wouldn't feel like being a friend if I didn't, would I?"

"That is fair. You said the Elder Sicarius was coming after you, right?"

"Yep."

"The Reach of the Imperator. I have read about her - the one who wears the Orb helmet. A dangerous opponent indeed. You do not expect to fight her, do you?"

"No - not really. I trust that the big shots of XCOM send me out there with the protection and training I can use to maybe buy myself some time, or delay her long enough so someone better than me can come take care of her."

I thought about what Fiona said to me earlier, about 'keeping an eye out for me'.

_What'd she mean by that, exactly?_

Was she going to watch me on missions via T'Leth or something, and pop in at my time of need? Be ready to teleport me out at a moment's notice? Or something else?

_Questions, questions, and more questions._

"I suppose that is a fair promise to yourself. I can promise you that if I am with you if she she ever comes to attack you, I will do my best to protect you."

"You mean it?"

"Of course I do. Warrior's honor." She stuck out an armored hand. "I promise."

I stuck out my much smaller hand, her taking it and shaking it. I knew she meant every word: I could feel the conviction in her voice as she talked. "It's a promise, then."

"I know it does not mean much, but it's the best I can do right now."

"I know you mean it, Ria."

She chuckled. "You know, when I first heard you call me that, I thought I would find that annoying. But you know what? I like it!"

"You do?"

"My mate wouldn't call me it if I didn't, now would he?"

"Wait, seriously?"

"His sense of humor was one of the reasons I married him. Keeps me entertained every day." She reloaded her gun. "But...I am glad we got lucky, being able to join together. Many other females do have such a respectable vision of our males who join the military. But that is another story. Our marriage has gotten much better since joining, and I think I know why that is?"

"Why?"

"I feel better here than in the Runiararch. More here than I ever did there, actually."

"And why's that?"

"Because, Dawn, I know what I am fighting for. When I was first deployed, we had no reason, no justification. Even our higher-ups knew nothing. It was, at the end of the day, 'because the Elders said so'. And who were we to question them? They were our salvation at the moment of our annihilation, so we figured we owed them. So, we went to the front line, and started killing."

"And after you defected with him…"

"You know the rest. The Sovereigns, Paradise, the puppet Aui'Vitakar: we did not know these things before coming here. Nor does the general populace know, but maybe one day that will change. Before, I killed aimlessly, because I was told to- because I felt like every human I killed would somehow pay the debt I had to the Elders for letting us live and not die out, leaving our planet barren. But now, armed with what I know, I aim to free my people, to perhaps have what we had before the Elders came."

"Freedom from them?"

"Yes. We charted our own destiny, you see. We had our hopes and dreams of going to the stars and crafting our own civilization." She growled. "How naive we were."

"But you'll be killing your own people."

"I already have, Dawn. That is the sacrifice I must make - _my_ kind must make, if we wish to break free of these strings they puppet us on. I may die, he may die, but if in the end our people can be free, if cubs can look outside their homes and know they can live their lives and make their own destiny, their own future without the Elders in the picture, then that will be my-our victory. The Vitakara as a whole may not realize it, but in time they will."

_Not a bad speech._

"Worth fighting for, yeah?"

She grinned, flashing her sharp pointy teeth. "Worth fighting for indeed. Now…" She cocked her plasma rifle. "Let us see who's the better shot."

I smirked, grabbing my Psi Rifle and hooking it up to my wrist, aiming at the next paper target.

It was times like these that made me feel sure of my decision to join up with XCOM. Moments like these that no book or movie could replicate, moments that showed the heart and soul of what XCOM was, who the people in it were, and what we all meant to each other.

Yes, there were going to be ugly moments, like Beijing or Patricia's attack. Moments where you thought, 'oh there's _no_ way we're coming back from this; no, it can't _possibly_ get worse then this'. But then there were good moments, like killing Isomnum, taking down the Hiveship, using GAIA to save Florida-you got the idea. But you didn't do things like that alone- you did it alongside your friends, your brothers and sisters in arms, be they human or alien. Training, watching the XCOM TV show, playing basketball, eating together- it gave you this feeling.

It was the feeling I felt when in the barracks, being the odd one out from all the other women who were leagues ahead of me in size and experience. It was the feeling I felt in the Dreamscape, taking my place among veritable living legends that overshadowed me to degrees I could barely fathom. It was the feeling I had from sitting around my friends in the Mess Hall, eating and talking about...well, almost anything. It was the feeling I had when I was with Caelior, going into each other's minds and opening up to each other in a way that you could truly see who someone was. It was the feeling I had when I drifted off to sleep every night in peace, even with everything going on.

What was it, one would ask?

The feeling that you weren't alone, that's what it was. The feeling that no matter what happened, no matter how screwed up things could get- you weren't going at it alone, that you weren't carrying the whole burden of it all. That there were others who'd signed up, just like you, to handle it all. One person couldn't defeat the Collective - one _human_ person, anything.

Wasn't exactly sure if a Sovereign One counted as a 'person' or not.

But it was the community here that kept me going, that made me feel safe. That I wasn't alone in tackling this endeavour. That I wasn't the only one in this position. Carreria, though much older and experienced than me, was in an arguably even _more_ difficult situation- her family had probably disowned her as a 'traitor', and unlike me, she'd been on the wrong side of the war, dealing with the guilt and such.

_You're lucky, Dawn. Much luckier than you think._

Anyone could've been a biopath to take my place. As far as I knew, someone else could've won the genetic lottery and ended up like me. The universe was a funny thing- but it also had a sense of humor, be it dark, light, or anything in between.

Isn't it funny that the first human biopath is named _Dawn_ of all things? The _dawn_ of something new? The _dawn_ of a new way of thinking? The _dawn_ of a form of environmental manipulation never even comprehended before?

I snorted, thinking to myself the endless arsenal puns I could pull out of my ass for that one.

But, as with the community, when you looked at it from a lighter perspective, a more relaxed one, things felt better. Because when you looked at the good things, rather than just worrying about all the bad, it felt better.

Because in the end, when you looked at it like _this_ , it wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

 **A/N** : So, around the time of the posting of this chapter, I will be back in college for my second semester of my first year. I'm not sure how this will affect my writing/uploading, but I'll do my best for you readers. Reminder that any and all feedback, be it on the Xabiarverse Discord server, reviews, or DMs- I do appreciate all feedback, be it positive or negative. I am also looking into adding more unique content to New Blood, like subplots and further expansion of Dawn Conley's character. It's a new year, and I'm very happy to write this fic for this little fandom. So, thanks to everyone on the Xabiarverse Discord and those of you who've left reviews- I appreciate it, as it means a lot to me and my writing. Here's to a hopefully better year then 2020. I know this is a bit late considering the timing, but I forgot to put a message like this in the previous chapter. There's going to be some big stuff happening involving Dawn soon, and I'm very excited for it. Here's a hint - blue and red.

* * *

To be continued in:

**Interlude: The Savant and the Revenant**


	19. Interlude: The Savant and the Revenant

_Borelian Wastes - Vitakar_

Vitakar was a pleasant world. It reminded him of several planets in the Empire at its height. A place with numerous unique biomes, from snowy dunes, to scorching deserts, to mountainous heights and hidden oceanic depths. Many preferred a planet with a stable biosphere, one with a moderate temperature.

He didn't really agree with that, but then again, he was far from a normal Ethereal.

Even now, it seemed.

Mortis'Ligna stood alone on the frozen tundra, far enough away from civilization to not pose an unintended risk, though not so isolated that he didn't see any life whatsoever. It wasn't uncommon for Borelian patrols to wander in the general area, though they stayed beyond the perimeter. They didn't know an Ethereal was here, but they were hardly one to defy Sana's request.

The thought made him happy.

Sana was one of those who deserved their adoration. He'd learned what she'd helped do, and it had been more of a relief than he'd thought. Even with everything that had changed, she had not, and even seemed to have taken some inspiration from him, if her act of defiance against the Imperator was anything to go by.

He wondered, as he stood in the snow, if that was why there had been little outreach since Paradise. Stick him on a planet, even a pleasant one, and just forget about him. A quarantine he had not necessarily consented to. Of course, he'd not been idle, and had spent countless hours these past months getting up to speed on _everything_ that had happened since the Empire's fall.

He felt he should be more…affected by the vast gap of time he'd been…well, comatose. Not dead, but effectively so. Yet he didn't. Tens of thousands of years had passed, and nothing was what it had been. Though in contrast to the shock he could interpret from the initial reports, it almost excited him.

A new start. Something to rebuild into something better.

Or, it would have been.

There were good and bad things he could see with the Ethereal Collective. No more did the Ethereals ignore the other species of the galaxy, though it struck him as more necessity than an actual desire to broaden their minds. They had used their vast technology and expertise to do great things, such as saving the Vitakara from a self-inflicted extinction event.

The Ethereal Collective was, also, a true Collective. Though one that struck him as…unbalanced. On paper, the Collective was a coalition of autonomous peoples, but there was an imbalance in how that was enforced. The Vitakara were more or less a puppet state of the Zararch, which was the effective intelligence arm of the Collective.

The Andromedons and Sectoids were less clear-cut. Mortis didn't know the rationale for the Sectoids, but their sheer disregard for life disturbed him, not least of which is reading some of the Hive Commanders reminded him of certain Ethereals who had advocated for more radical cultural enhancement. Had they had their way, the natural birth itself was a hurdle to break, overcome, and ultimately render pointless. A society where each citizen was designed and grown, one which could be fully and utterly controlled.

The prospect revolted him. The Greater Hive Commanders were that in practice, and it was just as horrifying as he'd believed. An alliance of convenience, and even he could not deny the Sectoids were brilliant in their cold science, but…he wanted nothing to do with them. Knowing what they were now made his encounter with Preximius all the more disconcerting, as that was _not natural._

Good that he was dead.

Paradise would hopefully one day follow.

The Andromedons…were interesting. A species obsessed with war, and splintered by division, subdued as it was. He felt it was very likely that the Zararch was working to keep them focused on each other. It felt like the Federation couldn't last, though that was the last thing anyone needed right now.

Then there were the Mutons. He was torn on them. Most things seemed to indicate that they were a barely sapient species, and their usage was something akin to using war beasts. The average Muton seemed to imply as much – even Sana's own notes indicated that. And yet…they couldn't be. Not when the Muton genome had produced intellectual masters like the Sargons and Praetorians.

He disliked thinking that the Collective was employing a slave army, but there was no getting around such an inconvenient truth. It gave the Collective an army for sure, and on paper the Mutons were the perfect soldiers, and after being put through training on Desolan, were a formidable fighting force.

But one in servitude to the Ethereals.

It wasn't right.

There was a lot of the Collective which wasn't _right_. It was better than the Empire had been in some aspects, but in others it was worse. Culminating in an invasion of a wholly uninvolved alien species for dubious reasons, while harnessing the power of a psionic entity which by all accounts should not exist.

The Imperator's plan was one he could see the cold, harsh reasoning for. It was one of pure pragmatism and assumption. The purely pragmatic mindset was one he could understand, and subsequently despise. Those with power and authority had a responsibility, one that was ethical and moral, to not abuse it.

That so few seemed to realize that could explain why the galaxy was in the state it was in. Power was ingrained in the Ethereals, and with such power invited an opportunity to use it. What use was power if left ignored? Mortis didn't believe in abstention, such was unrealistic and a waste, but such power was restricted to insulted factions, or used to oppress when left unchecked.

Was it so difficult to use power to do more than create and enforce an empire?

He released a sigh. Thus his conundrum right now. The Imperator did not have his loyalty or support, no matter how much he might think his little action on Paradise placated him. However, leaving was out of the question. His sister was kind and compassionate; she was as hurt by this conflict between Ethereals as the rest of them, and her response was to wash her hands of it.

Much as he understood it, he disagreed with the approach.

Neutrality was cowardice. Apathy was death. It wasn't unexpected given her tendencies, but this was something where a clear stance had to be taken. Though he distrusted Aegis' intentions, as well as the Sovereign the Humans had aligned themselves with. Their own actions were questioned in many ways too, and there were hallmarks of the old Empire in their measures.

Aegis' influence? Or Human nature as they said?

Not a question he had an answer to.

At the same time, the Ethereal Collective had too many of its own issues for him to fully back it. There could be no support so long as Paradise Station stood. Yet the Battlemaster still supported it, even though he had similar reservations. Loyal to a fault, which Mortis felt was a shame. The Battlemaster could do better.

He turned around and went inside the little place which had become his home over the months. There was no good answer here, though he already knew he was not going to defect. The Collective could be made into something right, it just needed the right people, the right idea, and the right circumstances.

He felt that was also the Battlemaster's calculus.

Although…

There was the Imperator.

The sheer power contained by the Imperator was majestic to behold. How powerful the Synthesized must have been to have beaten such beings. Unfortunate that it did not extend to their intelligence. No, no, intelligence in and of itself was not the deciding factor. Many in the Empire had been far more intelligent than him, yet that did not necessarily did not translate to being _smarter_.

An opinion of himself Sana would be exasperated at, perhaps, but the conformity of the Ethereals hadn't helped them in the end. Even if he'd gotten what he wanted, things might not have changed, but he couldn't help but feel ever so slightly validated. Regardless, it did not help him here.

He disliked just…waiting. Not that he'd done nothing, but he'd been acutely aware of the war raging while he learned all that he needed to. Now this was done, and he still didn't know what to do. Perhaps align himself with the Battlemaster for now, if there was one person he felt could be trusted besides Sana, it was the Battlemaster, and his Human avatar.

Well, the Human he was unsure of.

For now though, he would do small things. Sana's decision to be a neutral party had it's advantages, such as she could be used for passing little messages. Like the one about the Human biopath. Biopath or not, she was barely more than a child, and the fact that the Collective was ready and willing to terminate her was disgraceful.

He hoped that Sana had managed to convey that to XCOM. He did not really know if it would matter, as XCOM was just as content to weaponize the girl it seemed. Well, perhaps they would be able to protect her, even while they used her. Her situation reminded him of Caelior. A child with a gift of power, used as a pawn of the powerful.

Maybe it wasn't as clear with XCOM, but innocent parties would not use a child in war, or one who was practically such. War was no place for children, be they Ethereal or alien.

Sana had promised she would convey any response. He was looking forward to when she returned, and by then, hopefully he would come up with a solid plan of what to do next.

* * *

This part of Vitakar was too cold for Sana's liking. She preferred the more temperate parts of the planet, and would even settle for the heat of the deserts or humid jungles of the Dath'Haram. The cold was an element she actively disliked. It made her feel too many things, reminded her of too many days.

Death was cold, and she had felt death all too often. It had been years, but she still could not separate the connection she'd forged between cold and death. Perhaps it was fitting her brother had decided to stay here. Not many places more fitting for the Revenant, nor what he could wreak upon the galaxy.

Fortunate that he retained his restraint and drive to do action.

She'd encouraged him to stay and learn, fearing that his brazen and outspoken nature would lead to consequences from the Imperator. Right or wrong, Mortis did not understand tact or strategy in achieving a goal. In that sense, she admired him, for he had the courage to stand for something in a way she could, or would, not.

Cowardice on her part, perhaps, or resignation. A lone rebel accomplished nothing but failure. A cunning one survived long enough to grow that lone rebel into more. Though she knew herself, and knew she was not a rebel. She could not find it in herself to ever fight against her own kind, not willingly.

Though as it turned out, even she had lines. She was away from the Collective now. Ties were broken. The Imperator had, surprisingly, not demanded she return. She was free to do as she wished, within reason. So why did it feel that nothing had really changed? Why did it feel she was still under the Imperator?

_Because you do not resist him._

_Not really._

_You stay out of his way, and that does not bother him. You change nothing with your actions, and thus he does not give you reason to change your mind._

A thought that had been growing more and more in her mind as of late. One she was having difficulty stopping, even as she knew rationally that it was a poisonous pill. Violence would lead to no solution. Aegis and the Imperator were both willing to sacrifice as many people as possible to achieve their own version of victory.

At the end of the day, she wondered how many millions would die in this conflict.

All started because of ambition.

The Humans could not be faulted for fighting, but they could be faulted for continuing to do so, even when there may be other ways. It was why the negotiations had been an encouraging sign. Both sides, coming together for a brief moment of calm, Aegis and the Battlemaster united in the shared purpose of protecting one of their own, no matter what had been done.

Both of them had saved the Second Guardian from death, of that she was certain.

She opened the door, Mortis' mind clear on the other side, and he became well aware of her presence. "Sana," he greeted, standing from the chair he'd been seated in. "Your journey was not difficult, I hope?"

"No," she shook her head, lowering the hood from her head. "Though you isolate yourself in an unfavorable climate."

"To you, perhaps. I personally happen to like the area," he said. "I followed the negotiations. It was a better ending than I expected."

"Yes, it was," she agreed. "But she is returned and safe."

"Good, the Battlemaster did the right thing," Mortis nodded approvingly. "And ADVENT held to their end. I suppose I am surprised that the Battlemaster was willing to give up what he did – and that ADVENT didn't pull out. They tend to prefer killing their enemies outright."

Sana felt the corners of her lips stretch back, a sense of certainty filling her. "I am not surprised. She is one of us, and even though now so much divides us, we still protect our own. It gives me some hope."

"Yes, though in no small part to you," Mortis pointed out.

"I did less than you might think," she admitted. "The Battlemaster was the one who pushed for an agreement, and the Humans were willing to listen. I merely kept the conversation going when needed."

"Better than doing nothing," Mortis snorted. "Like the Imperator. I do not believe he spoke once of what happened."

"He did not."

"Disappointing, but I suppose not surprising," Mortis sighed. "I'm glad it ended the way it did. Will you be returning to Earth when you leave?"

"I will make a stop at Sanctuary first."

A nod. "I may come along, if you do not mind."

She cocked her head, surprised, and immediately concerned. "You are leaving?"

"Yes, it is time I do something more than sit on the sidelines, especially as a war rages," he said pointedly. "However, I have made a decision about what to do. The Battlemaster has shown his priorities are, largely, in the right place, and I trust him. I believe that for now, I will stay close to him."

That was better than what she feared. The Battlemaster would be one who could perhaps keep Mortis somewhat in check, and keep him busy so he did not attract the attention of the Imperator. "Did you share the information of the Human girl with the Commander?"

"Yes, I did," Sana said. "He thanked me for it, and promised that they would take precautions. He also shared some more details about her. Apparently she is moderately skilled in Biopathy now – she seems to have the basics. Apparently she learned from our own lessons."

Mortis seemed surprised. "How did she acquire those?"

"Aegis, most likely."

"I forget he likely took a copy of everything when he left," Mortis muttered. "I am oddly pleased that an alien has found some of what we learned useful. Unfortunate that it is an alien child soldier. I do not suppose that XCOM will not utilize her – for that matter, why is the girl even with XCOM?"

"I do not know myself," Sana admitted. "However, my impression is that she was originally with ADVENT, but they did not know how to train her. I believe her Biopathy may have manifested. ADVENT likely believed XCOM could train her better. I believe they were right."

"Perhaps, but now she is a useful pawn for XCOM," Mortis shook his head. "I do not understand the fascination Humans have with child soldiers."

"Technically, she is an adult by their standards."

"Technically, but both of us know that is not the case," Mortis waved a dismissive hand. "You more than anyone should be familiar with Human development. Their brains do not fully mature until they have reached their early twenties. She has yet to even live twenty years. A child, though I suppose it is hardly the first time Humans have sent children in wars."

"I doubt she is acting against her will," Sana cautioned. "The circumstances of Earth are…enough for her to shake her doubts she may have."

"No doubt, which makes her all the more useful," Mortis said flatly. "It was wrong when the Empire did it to Caelior, XCOM is no better. However, Biopath or not, I do not want her to die in this war if I have the power to stop it."

"Unfortunately, we can only rely on XCOM now," Sana said.

"I thought so too, and then I had another idea," Mortis has a satisfied tone in his voice. "I will instead request that she be captured – alive. She would make an ideal Harbinger for the Revenant, would she not?"

Sana blinked. "You are serious?"

A snort. "No. I have no interest in this science project. However, if it will mean they do not kill the girl, I will play into the Imperator's expectation. I doubt they will suspect falsehood considering her skillset. She will not survive long against the Imperator's assassin otherwise. Here she at least has an opportunity to live. And if she happens to 'accidentally' escape, or otherwise remain out of danger, then all the better." He paused. "I will need to develop a better plan in the event that happens. However, a good plan, no?"

Sana clasped her hands together. "A dangerous one, especially if the Imperator learns…"

"And what is he doing to do?" Mortis demanded. "Condemn me for attempting to prevent the assassination of a child? I do not fear his condemnation."

 _Yes you do, or you would not go through this elaborate scheme._ She said nothing though, and let her emotions speak for themselves as she continued. "Be safe during this, Mortis. There is a reason I left."

"I know," he said, voice softening. "And I admire you for it. But I cannot stand by and do nothing. I must either accept the Collective as it is, or become one who will change it. Waiting and seeing is not what I do."

Despite herself, she smiled. "I would expect nothing less."

"You should not," he looked around the room. "Before we depart, I have a few things to pack, and let the Battlemaster know of my return. If you want to help…"

"Of course, brother."

"I'm glad," he said, as they began walking towards another part of the small home. "And while we do this, you can give me your impressions of the Negotiations beyond the summary. I have a feeling the knowledge will be useful the day I meet any of them."

* * *

To be continued in:

**Going Dark**


End file.
